Pokemon: After the Cataclysm
by Ianthe Rose
Summary: In a world devastated by the actions of Team Rocket, where becoming a pokemon trainer is no longer your own choice to make, one girl makes a decision that few others dare. AU world based off of Revenantzero's "Pokemon: Chaotic World."
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Pokemon or the original idea for this AU world. I got the layout of this world from Revenantzero's story  Pokemon: Chaotic World with permission. **

**_Author's Note_ : Chapters 1-5 of this story have been edited an reposted 09/13/17. I expect to update much more frequently from now on. I hope you enjoy my story!**

 **Prologue**

In the past, pokemon battling was considered something of a sport or a game. Pokemon were usually content to live in their habitats outside of cities and accept the possibility that they would be captured by a traveling pokemon trainer. Of course, there were incidents when species of more aggressive pokemon would attack travelers or towns, but they were usually taken care of by one of the many trainers or a member of the pokemon league. Incredible advances were being made in the fields of pokemon studies and technology. However all of this was before Team Rocket had made a comeback and spread branches throughout all of the regions: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos.

Their actions in trying to capture the legendary pokemon eventually came too close to succeeding when they managed to awaken Zekrom and attempted to capture it with a stolen master ball, the pinnacle of pokeball technology. Their plan ultimately failed, but this enraged all of the legendary pokemon around the globe; a rage that quickly spread to influence every pokemon in every region that wasn't closely bonded with a trainer. There was a period of raging storms and earthquakes, flooding, and fires without end; and when finally these conditions died down, the human race was faced with the wrath of the pokemon. Even the most docile of pokemon species had become hostile toward humanity. Team Rocket had been annihilated at the hand of the legendaries, but the rest of the human species was left with the aftermath of their grievous mistakes. We began to call it "The Cataclysm."

Our towns and cities were constantly plagued by pokemon attacks. There were thousands of casualties, due to both the attacks on the cities and the rebellion of pokemon that weren't bonded closely enough to their trainers. As the death count rose ever higher, we began building walls for the sake of our survival. Those that lived in less populated areas were evacuated to the nearest city, and thick walls rose up around each city made of the strongest materials known to mankind. But even when the walls were completed, we still struggled to deal with pokemon sneaking through underground or flying above. Any attempts at travel was precarious at best and lethal at worst. Food had to be grown within the walls, and pokemon that were kept for food had to be held under complete control through the use of a powerful sedative. Pokemon trainers were the only viable form of protection. However, very few trainers remained from the days before the Cataclysm, and fewer still were willing to become part of the new generation of pokemon trainers.

In the end, a new order was created, revolving around the remnants of the Pokemon League. Each city was appointed one of the strongest remaining trainers as a Gym Leader to head the security and all of the trainers of the city. All trainers were ranked in the new system and subordinate to the Gym Leader, who - in turn - was answerable to the League. Every year the Gym accepted volunteers to become trainers, but despite the hope the new order brought, not enough people were willing to volunteer. The only option left to the was to enforce a yearly draft for trainers. So it began that on June 21st of every year the names of able bodied boys and girls from the ages of twelve to sixteen years of age were drawn until there amounted to at least six new trainers every year, though most years the number of draftees was higher.

These new trainers had much more difficulty taming their pokemon than ever before, and they were the cities' only defense against wild pokemon. Trainers were respected and feared in equal measure for their partnerships with pokemon and the part they played in the protection of their city. Today, all trainers live separated into one district of each city – District 13. Located in every District 13 were the Pokemon Centers, Pokemarts, Gyms, a multitude of training grounds, and housing for all of the trainers in the city.

As the years passed and the fear of pokemon only continued to grow, there grew to be less and less volunteers, until it got to the point that most years had no volunteers at all. That part of the story is where I come in. My name is Dahlia Moore, and today I'm planning on volunteering to become a pokemon trainer.

 **Chapter 1**

The Aspertia Gym stadium was a hub of nerves and anxious conversation, chock full of prospective trainers, all of them waiting for Clyde, our Gym Leader, to make an appearance. We were seated by age and gender; youngest in the front, oldest in the back. Girls on the left, and boys on the right. All of the parents had to wait outside, only able to see what's happening as it played on the screen set up in front of the Gym. My own parents didn't know that I planned to volunteer, and now that I was just minutes away from the moment that will determine the course of the rest of my life, I was warring between feelings of nervousness and impatience. Luckily, my wait didn't last much longer, because at exactly one o'clock, Clyde came out to stand behind the podium that has been set up for the occasion. The crowd stayed in an uproar until Clyde lifted his fingers to his mouth and let out an ear piercing whistle. The noise immediately settled down to sparse whispers, then complete silence.

"Let's get this show on the road," the Gym Leader said in a gruff voice into the microphone. Our Gym Leader was the strong but silent kind of man, and in his old age, he'd grown even more blunt than I remember him being back when I was just a little girl watching with my parents as my older sister waited inside the Gym stadium.

"This year, only six of you will be chosen to become pokemon trainers." There was a brief smattering of relieved whispers throughout the room. "Training pokemon is not an easy task. There is a good chance that anyone who is chosen – or chooses for themselves – to become a trainer on this day will die young. However, every trainer is of vital importance to the protection of this city, and we expect you to be the best in honor of that responsibility, regardless of the circumstances under which you become a trainer." I rubbed at the goosebumps that had risen on my arms."That being said," Clyde continued, "are there any volunteers to become pokemon trainers."

That was it; the moment I'd been waiting for. My hand was trembling a little as I lifted it into the air. Hopefully no one noticed it. I think it was a combination of nerves and stage fright. Everyone was looking at me as I stood up. Hushed conversations flared up around me, and I think I saw Clyde's eyebrows lift slightly in surprise before he motioned me up to the stage. It had been a few years since anybody had volunteered on a Conscription Day. By the time I made my way up to the podium, my shaking had steadied out a bit. I was asked for my name and age, which was then announced on the microphone.

"Dahlia Moore, age fifteen. Are there anymore volunteers?" You could hear a pin drop in the silence. I resisted the urge to fidget, uncomfortable with all of the stares that were aimed in my direction. "No? On with the drawing then." Clyde reached into the big glass bowl for the first draw.

"Sandra Gregorio, age fourteen." A tall girl I wasn't familiar with, who had sun-streaked brown hair walked up to the stage. Her face, which looked like it was ordinarily tan, was pale. She stood with her head down and her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"Joseph Rogers, age sixteen." He was lean boy with messy dark blond hair and a grim expression on his face, who I recognized as being from the class two years above in my school.

"Damon Whitfield, age fifteen." I knew Damon as the heartthrob of my age group due to his supposed bad boy attitude and good looks. I had overheard countless conversations between the girls in my class on the topic. He was fairly tall, with dark hair and slate gray eyes. Right now he scowled darkly at the crowd with his hands shoved firmly in the pockets of his jeans.

"Zachary Travis, age twelve." The kid was tall - especially for his age - and skinny. His hair was light brown hair and shaggy. He tripped and almost fell as he made his way up to the stage. His pants were noticeably high-waters, and his white tennis shoes were scuffed. In all, he looked fairly awkward.

"Geoffrey Crawford, age twelve." The boy in question turned deathly pale upon hearing his name called, and seemed to be hyperventilating. Despite the urging his nearby year-mates, he remained stock still in his seat. Just as it looked like observing trainers were about to step in, one voice rose above the rest, and all eyes turned toward the back of the auditorium.

"I volunteer," the young woman shouted once more, with slightly less volume. "I'll take his place." She walked shakily up to the front and engaged in a whispered conversation with Clyde before clamoring onto the stage. Her hair was the same shade of flaming red as Geoffrey's, though she lacked the abundance of freckles that he had.

"Linda Crawford, age sixteen." Clyde stated. His eyes, so dark that they appear black, are shadowed as he stares one last time at my former peers. "...Dismissed."

As one, everyone that hadn't been drawn began to chatter loudly as they streamed out of the Gym, eager to get away from fear and uncertainty of it all. After several minutes, the Gym was almost empty except for the other new trainers and Clyde. Then came the part I had been dreading. The parents of those who would become the newest pokemon trainers entered the Gym. My mother came in last, looking pale and drawn. My dad was working in the fields and wouldn't hear about this until later. I don't think I'd ever been more nervous as I watched my mom slowly walk across the stadium to me. She stopped about a foot in front of me and looked me in the eyes, her chocolate colored eyes gazing straight into my own that shared the same color. Then, abruptly, she pulled me to her and hugged me so tightly that I feared my ribs would crack even as my eyes burned. She was a strong woman from all of her work in the fields with my father. Finally, she loosened her grip and stepped back, keeping her hands on my arms.

"Be careful," she said at last, her voice raspy and her eyes bright with unshed tears. "Be sure to call the house when you can. Your father and Beck will want to speak with you." With that, she left a lingering kiss on my forehead before she and the other parents were ushered out. My little brother, Beck, is paralyzed from the waste down, so our older sister Thea watches him on Conscription Days, when our parents can't. She was ten years older than me, and married. She hadn't remained close to us since she moved to District 3, an upper-middle class district, with her husband, who was an architect. With all of the parents gone, Clyde whistled again, quieter this time, to get our attention.

"Walk and listen, kids," he barked, leading us out of the Gym. "This week will be used for learning whatever you need to know about pokemon before your Trial. Once you have gone out to catch your first pokemon and completed your Trial, you will become what is known as an E class trainer. As an E class trainer, you will only be allowed one pokemon slot. Once you pass the D rank test you will gain one more pokemon slot on your team, then two pokemon slots for every other rank you gain; C rank, B rank, A rank, and S rank. S class trainers are allowed to carry up to ten pokemon at one time. If you catch more pokemon than you have slots for, that pokemon will be placed in stasis. You can only have two pokemon in stasis at any given time that you have a full team; this remains true for the entirety of your career as a trainer.

"You will be allowed to stay in rooms at the Pokemon Center free of charge for six months with two free meals a day for your first two weeks, and one free meal a day after those two weeks are up. After that you'll have to find your own apartment. Feel free to ask any of the more experienced trainers any questions you have." We ended up several blocks away from the Gym, in front of a large building that was at least the size of the Gym, with vague, stylized image of a pokeball above the automatic door. Clyde led us inside, where we ended up in a spacious lobby. "Welcome to the Pokemon Center. Directly in front of you is the pokemon hospital. At the front desk, you will usually find either Nurse Caroline Joy or Nurse Lydia Joy."Clyde gestured toward a woman with distinctive pink hair that was tied back in two loops. She smiled warmly and waved when she saw us looking.

"To your right is the Center Pokemart," Clyde pointed, drawing our attention again, "which only has basic supplies: your regular pokeballs, potions, repels, antidotes, and what not. On your left is the lounge, an area where trainers tend to hang out and relax. At the end of the hallway next to the lounge is the cafeteria. The doorways in to the left and right of the hallway lead to the library and computer room respectively. Your rooms will be upstairs, as are the communal showers and bathrooms. Once you are able to become D class trainers, you will be able to take missions appropriate for your rank. You can find missions either in the online database or posted in the lounge." The Gym Leader, paused looking each of us in the eyes. "Nurse Joy will give you your room assignments. She will also be giving you a starter manual. I expect each of you to meet me here at eight sharp tomorrow morning." With that, he was out the door before any of us even realized he had moved.

There was a long moment of awkward silence as we all stared blankly at one another. It was Damon who made the first move. He rolled his eyes with a huff and slouched off in the direction of the front desk, and the rest of us quickly followed in suit.

"Hello," Nurse Joy welcomed, walking out from behind the desk with six keys in her hand. "Ladies first," she handed numbered keys out; number two to me, four to Linda, and five to Sandra. Rooms seven, eight, and nine went to Joseph, Damon, and Zachary. "Girls will be on the hall to the left, boys on the right," she explained. She then started handing out booklets to everyone. "The manuals basically just expand on what Gym Leader Clyde has already told you, though I'm sure there are some things he didn't get to. It's definitely worth a read." She clasped her hands together with a slight bow. "With that said, I wish you all the best of luck. If you have any questions, I am always willing to answer them, and my fellow Nurse Joy feels the same. Good night," she said with one last smile, before returning to her post.

We all started to spread out. Sandra and Linda stood together talking for a minute before going up to find their rooms. Damon and Joseph also stuck together, sitting on a couch in the lounge, where an old movie was playing on the TV. Zachary stood awkwardly by himself for several moments before heading down the hall. I followed him, but while he continued on to the cafeteria, I stepped into the library. Inside, I found rows upon rows of towering book shelves. There were also tables and chairs placed strategically throughout. For the time being, I contented myself with browsing the bookshelves. I was happy to find a very broad selection of books, ranging from fiction, to geography, to technology. The largest section was, of course, dedicated to pokemon.

It was late in the evening by the time I decided to settle down in my room to read my manual. No sooner had I climbed into my new bed, however, than I started to feel drowsy, and I quickly found myself succumbing to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I woke at six o'clock the next morning, having slept surprisingly well. Upon waking I took the time to examine my new room, since I had neglected to do so last night. I had slept on the bottom bunk of a twin sized bunk bed against one of the light beige walls, to the left of the door. A matching bunk bed was set against the opposite wall as well. The sheets were white, and the covers were light purple. All of the furnishings were made of a dark wood that I didn't recognize. I could only assume that all of the other rooms available were set up in a similar manner. I dressed in sturdy, neutral toned clothes that I put together between what I found in the closet and the dresser, which also contained various sets of similar clothing. I had found several pairs of generic undergarments in the top drawer of the dresser. The only window in the room was directly across from the door, and had a decent view of the district. Once I finished preparing myself for the day, I then proceeded to hole up in the library.

The first thing I did was read through the manual. I found that Nurse Joy had been honest when she said most of the information within had been covered by Clyde on the walk over, though there were a few pieces of information that I found useful. Reading through the manual had only taken me an hour, so I decided to do a little bit of studying before it was time to meet with Clyde and the others. I was mostly interested in looking up what kind of pokemon tended to appear around Aspertia and checking up on type advantages and disadvantages for now, so that was what I did. At the end of my time before we had to meet with Clyde, I was also able to do a bit of checking up on what pokemon were particularly strong or rare in the Unova region. By the time I headed over to meet the others with an inkling of a plan developing in my mind.

As the group met in front area, everyone kept in their same groupings, with Zachary lurking near the other boys. While we waited, I caught Zach looking at me. I smiled at him, but he only looked away with a blush. When Clyde arrived, he merely grunted and gestured for us to follow him. I noticed that his face was drawn, and that his eyes looked tired before he turned to guide us out of the center. We were led to the gym again, through a door off to the side of the stadium. It opened into a room full of weapons; a deadly collection of knives, swords, spears, staffs, and even bows and arrows. Once we were all inside, Clyde turned to face us.

"During your Trial," he began in a rumbling voice, "you will be alone in the wild with no protection. As such you will each be provided with a knife and a weapon of your choice in order to defend yourselves. The knives will be yours to keep, and you will find," he said, tossing a knife into the air and catching it by the hilt, "that many trainers will pay to keep their weapons of choice once they have enough money." He looked everyone in the eye, his face serious. "Even when you have strong, trained pokemon, there's always the possibility that you won't get your pokemon out of their balls in time or something will slip past them. It always pays to be prepared. Now remember," he clapped his hands loudly, making several people jump in surprise. "One knife, and one weapon of your choice." He waved his hands at us.

I went first, deciding to browse through the knives first. I lifted a few, testing their weight and the size of the hilt in my hands, before settling on a simple one that was approximatly seven inches in length. The hilt was bound with worn black leather and it felt comfortable enough in my hands. As I began to look at the other weapons, I realized that there were a lot of swords, which made sense. Swords deal a lot of damage and have a better reach than knives. Still, I was looking for something a bit more solid than a sword. I couldn't really picture myself swinging one around, though it would be a good fall back weapon if I couldn't find anything else.

I saw a few spears as I looked around, but the shafts were made of wood; they seemed like they would be too easily be destroyed. I spent a good amount of time considering a set of batons, but eventually decided that I wanted something with more reach. I didn't particularly want to get quite so close up and personal with whatever wild pokemon I ended up encountering. The bows would most likely take to much time and practice to really be of much use. Finally, my gaze touched upon the staffs. There were only three of them, and two - like the spears - were also made of wood, but the last one was a simple rod made of a black metal that I couldn't identify. It was about an inch thick and several inches taller than me. The pole was heavy when I lifted it in my hands, but if I what I thought was correct, that would make it hit harder. Hefting one end over my right shoulder, I wandered over to where several of the others had already gathered, most of them with varying types of swords. The last one to choose his weapon was Sandra. She headed over to us with a bow and a quiver of arrows after a few minutes, though her chosen knife was one of the longest available. We were then shown to another room on the other side of the Gym stadium. It was training room with an open area for practicing with weapons and another area full of strength training equipment.

The Gym Leader left to our own devices from there. Sandy and Linda headed back to the Center while all of the boys stayed in the training area, swinging around their weapons. I did the same, testing the weight of my pole. I fumbles with it a few times – particularly when I tried to spin it like a baton – but I felt more comfortable with it than I think I would have been with any of the other weapons. I tired pretty quickly, but continued to practice for another hour before I went back to the Pokemon Center. I took a long shower before heading down stairs to take a look at the computer room.

There were computers lining three of the walls, and several other machines that I didn't know the function of. It all looked like the latest in modern technology, at least more so than the computers I was used to using. Shortly after sitting down at one of the computers, I realized that I preferred using the maps I had found in the library for research on the surrounding area. A few moments later, however, I found myself immersed in the pokemon database, which was much more efficient than a book when it came to looking up pokemon. I ended up staying there most of the day, only leaving for food and bathroom breaks. I was in the middle of compiling a list of pokemon that I wanted to catch if given the opportunity when Zach sat down at the computer next to me. According to the computer, it was nine o'clock I pretended not to notice him, but noted that he looked a little shifty. His right index finger was compulsively tapping the mouse without actually clicking on anything. I continued to sift through pokemon information.

"H-Hi," he said nervously. He glance at me out of the corner of his eye before snapping his attention back to the computer and tapping a few keys.

"Hello," I said while still looking at my computer.

Zach fidgets in his seat a little. "I'm Zach – well, Zachary, but everyone calls me Zach." I noticed that his cheeks are turning red, and he was staring steadfastly down at his hands on the keyboard.

"I know," I replied. "My name is Dahlia – in case you didn't know." I smiled at him briefly before looking back at my screen. His blush increased a bit before dying back down.

"Y-Yeah, I know," he said, nodding. "Um, what are you doing?" Zach asked, gaining a little confidence. I grabbed my notepad and wrote the name of another pokemon down.

"I'm researching," I told him. "The kinds of pokemon that live in the area, the moves they generally know; the kind of stuff that might help out during the Trial." He swallowed audibly at the word. "A little bit about what pokemon will probably be the easiest to catch. What pokemon tend to evolve into some of the strongest. Type advantages..." He exhaled shakily.

"Do you think you can help me a little?" He wrung his hands a bit before he continued, "just with what to look out for and what's the easiest to catch?" He's looking down again. "I'm not very good at looking things up on computers. Or in books for that matter." He looked morosely at his computer screen, which is still on the homepage. I had to bite my lip to stifle a smile as I grabbed my notebook again. I flipped back a few pages and examined one before tearing it out and handing it to him. It was filled front to back with my scribbles.

"This is the information I think will be the most useful," I explained, before exiting out of my page and standing up.

"But what about you?" he asked concernedly, looking at the paper as if I'd just handed him a nugget of gold.

"It's all in my head," I replied, tapping said body part with a finger as I stand up. It was true. Though my memory retention for things I've heard is awful, I tend remember most of what I read, especially if I've also written it down. "I'm heading up to bed. If you need anything, feel free to ask."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The week leading up to the Trial passed in the blink of an eye. Zach had taken up a regular seat at the computer next to me during my studying, occasionally asking clarifying questions about the notes I gave him. I showed him a bit about how the databases could be used. He seemed particularly intent on the pokemon that were usually considered the easiest to catch. I tried to spend a bit of time at the Gym each day, getting used to using my knife and staff. I was also using the exercise equipment in hopes that I would somehow become stronger in the week before the Trials began. Even though everything I knew told me that it takes longer than a week for exercise to have any tangible effect on your body. The week passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye, though, and before I knew it, the morning of the Trials was at hand. As all of the prospective trainers gathered in front of the Gym at six in the morning, Clyde met us with three other trainers, looking more serious than I'd ever seen him. Considering what I knew of his usual disposition, that was saying something.

"Aspertia City has four gates, one at each of the cardinal directions. Our city's nestled right against the edge of a mountain. The west gate opens directly into the mountain. To the north and south, you will find forest and parts of the mountain range. East leads to more forest, but if you keep going for a few miles, you'll find the ocean. A few miles northeast are the remains of what used to be a town, Floccesy. This," Clyde held up his left arm, where a device that looked similar to a watch was strapped, "is an Xtranceiver. Each of you will be receiving one of these before you go out. It is programmed with a map, my number, and, of course, the time. They are each capable of making and receiving video calls once it's registered to you, which won't until you've succeeded in your Trial." He opened the bag on his shoulder and began to distribute them. I received a light purple one, while the pink and teal ones went to the other two girls. The red, black, and dark blue ones were given to the boys.

"When you're out there, you will be allowed to return every night. But you will have to go out every day until you either come back with a captured pokemon or don't come back at all. It is suggested that you don't stick together. When you capture your first pokemon, they will notice that you don't have any others. That suggests to them that you're inexperienced. If, on top of that, they think you needed the help of another human to capture them, they will not respect you. Also, should you catch a pokemon and be unable to make it obedient to you, that pokemon will be put down, and you will have to repeat your Trial." He motioned at the other trainers present, who began to pass out bags to us. "Each of these bags have three pokeballs, a bottle of repel, three potions, an antidote, a paralyze heal, three bottles of water, a few protein bars and dried berries, a compass, a matchbook, and rope. Those who are going North, follow James. East, follow Sarah. South, Graham. If your going west, follow me." Damon and Sandra went with Clyde. Linda went South, while Zach went East. Joseph and I followed James to the North gate.

"So I hear you volunteered," James said as we walked through the city. He had white blond hair, tan skin, and sea green eyes. As far as I could tell, he was in his late teens. Joseph stumbled a bit at his statement.

"I did." There was a bit of a pause.

"That seems pretty brave to me," he continued.

"Mm," I said noncommittally. "How long have you been a trainer?" I ask him. I can feel him looking at me, but he allows the change in subject.

"Two years," he says. "My name was drawn when I was fourteen. I'm a B class trainer now." I nodded at the information.

"If you don't mind my asking, what was your first pokemon?" This question caused him to smile fondly.

"I don't mind. My first catch was a Snivy. I went out this same gate and caught her on the first day." His smile was replaced by a slight frown. "I was lucky. Two of the trainers in my year never came back. All of the others took more than one day to catch their pokemon." Joseph spoke up just as we reached the gate, sounding nervous.

"You got any last minute advice?" He asked. James tilted his head.

"Clyde has already covered most of it," he said. "Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott are fairly common and generally easy to catch, and they all evolve into strong pokemon, which is why they were common starter pokemon before the Cataclysm. Umm, when you see grass and bug type pokemon, you need to watch out for poison. Oh, yeah," he said as he motioned at the trainers at the gate to open it up. "Don't try to catch evolved pokemon. Not only will they break free of the pokeball, but it is generally recommended to catch the unevolved forms because they're easier to bond with." He motioned at the open gate. "Time to go. Good luck," he said squeezed Joseph's shoulder with a halfhearted smile and sent a wink in my direction. Joseph and I both stepped through the gate, and it immediately shut behind us. We simultaneously turned to face each other.

"I'm heading northeast," I tell him with a nod in the appropriate direction.

He gave me a grin filled with false bravado. "Guess that means I'm headed northwest. "

"Good luck, Joseph," I tell him, holding my hand out. He shook it with a slightly sweaty hand, delaying the inevitable by lingering for a few seconds.

"Call me Joey. I hate my full name." He told me, stepping back. "See you on the other side," he promised. Then he turned and walked away. I stared at his back for a few minutes before doing the same. It was hard not to jump at every shadow, knowing that there could be pokemon lurking in every tree. The only reaction I allowed myself was the tightening of my grip on my staff.

Ten minutes in I let out a muffled screech when a pokemon dropped on my head. I immediately shook it off, panic and adrenaline fueling me as I swung my staff at it again an again, until I was sure it was dead. I was panting and shaking by the end of it. Luckily for me, the pokemon that I now recognized to be a Sewaddle was probably very young and hadn't developed a tough hide yet. Otherwise I likely wouldn't have been able to kill it. I got away from it as quickly as possible to avoid any other pokemon that might be attracted to the scent of its blood.

Twenty minutes later I stopped to check my bearings on the compass and take a sip of water from one of my bottles. My plan was to head northeast, past Floccesy Town to reach the abandoned Flocessy Ranch. I'd read in my research that before the Cataclysm, young Riolu were occasionally spotted there. According to the databases I'd searched, before Riolu evolved, they sought out peaceful areas with easy access to food and water where they could train until they were strong enough to evolve. Floccesy Ranch fit that description to a T with its berry orchards and ponds. After that, they migrated to the mountains for heavier training to become Lucario.

The upsides to my plan were that there weren't very many strong pokemon documented at the Ranch and Riolu were coveted rare pokemon that were highly intelligent. They tended to take easily trained due to their emphatic abilities when in the hands of a compassionate and honorable trainer. I could only hope that I fit the bill closely enough for it to work.

The downside was that the Ranch was so far away from Aspertia that I wouldn't be able to go back to the city for the night. I wouldn't reach it until tomorrow, plus whatever time I needed to find a Riolu and get back to the Aspertia from there. Altogether, that meant I probably wouldn't get home for at least four days; probably more.

By the time night fell, I had been chased by a Lillipup and only narrowly avoided a Whirlipede as it rolled past at high speeds. I also saw an Audino from a distance, though luckily it didn't see me. I decided to spend the night in an indention I found between the roots of a large tree. I would be hidden from sight for the most part, and I sprayed some repel around the area for good measure before settling down to sleep. I was awake before the sun the next morning, still tired, but too restless to sleep. My paranoia had already woken me several times throughout the night at the slightest of noises, and I was eager to get moving.

I made pretty good time despite the several close calls with Patrats, and an encounter with a Watchdog, the evolved form of Patrat that was to fast for me to get away from. It left me with several bleeding scratches and shaking hands after I finally managed to dissuade it with my metal staff. The close call really brought home the fact that I could die at any moment if I took a wrong step in this forest.

The sun was high in the sky when I finally stumbled on to the ranch. I'd finally spotted the walls of Floccesy Town from a distance about fifteen minutes back, and since then I'd been combing the woods north of it. I was hopeful that all my hard work wouldn't come to nothing. If my plan to find a Riolu didn't bear fruit, was prepared to catch whatever else caught my eye on the way home, but I didn't want it to come down to that.

The old ranch house was in shambles. One of the walls was completely destroyed, and the fences were in various states of disrepair. I wandered around back and found the orchard. It was overgrown and wild, spotted with weeds, but there were berries everywhere. I picked berries as I went, eating some but putting most of them in a compartment of my bag. I was careful to keep an eye out for pokemon, but I only saw a few Pidoves and another Patrat. Fortunately, all of their attention was on the fallen berries, and they didn't seem to notice me as I sneaked past. Soon enough, I couldn't fit anymore berries in without crushing them or impeding my ability to retrieve objects from my bag. I left the orchard and came across a small clearing with a small brook running through it. I let my bag drop to the ground and knelt down to wash my face. I felt filthy, and didn't want to imagine what I'd see if I had a mirror.

Out of the blue, something crashed into my side, sending me skidding a several feet and causing my staff to tumble out of my grasp. A Riolu stood in the spot I had just been forcefully removed from, positioned in a fighting stance. Seeing this, I rolled over to my staff and grabbed it just in time to see the small blue creature bolting toward me. I swept the staff at just as it was almost on me, pushing it course, then used the time it took to recover to scramble to my feet. It then came at me with a quick attack that was too fast for me to avoid. It rammed in to my midriff, causing me to stumble back a few steps and my breathe to leave me with an audible 'whoosh.' I was able to catch myself on my staff in a turn of luck, but I couldn't seem to breathe for several precious seconds.

Stumbling to the side like drunk to avoid a tackle, I blindly waved my staff around, and somehow managed to score a glancing blow off the side of the Riolu's head. It stumble a little, then I immediately had to jump back to avoid another quick attack. I didn't manage to avoid the next one though, and it sent me tumbling to the ground again. In a stroke of good fortune, I fell directly next to my bag. I smacked the Riolu away again and fumbled around in my bag as it regained its bearings. My questing fingers met the spherical form of a pokeball just as the pokemon came at again. This time when it hit me in the chest as I struggled to my feet, I grabbed it before it could dart away. As it struggled against me to escape, I carefully maneuvered my arm to tap expanded pokeball in my hand against the Riolu's side. It was sucked into the pokeball in a red beam of light, which rocked once, twice, then three times before stilling in my hand.

My heart was beating out a fast rhythm in my ears, and I let out a gusty before sinking to the ground in a heap, panting. I was almost completely covered in mud from the stream's bank, and my entire body ached, particularly my ribs. When I rolled my shirt up to check them, I found that they were already bruising, as were my chest and shoulders. I didn't seem to have broken anything though.

I warily picked up the pokeball and secured it in my bag before crawling over to the stream again to wash some of the mud off, keeping my weapon close at hand. I didn't linger long, memories of fighting for my life fresh in my mind. I sipped a little bit of potion, ate a few berries and a protein bar, then moved my remaining pokeballs into my pant pockets, not wanting another repeat losing them with my bag. I then scouted out another tree to sleep next to. Even though the sun was just beginning to set, I was exhausted. I curled up around my bed and dropped straight to sleep.

The next morning, I woke to the sun shining on my eyelids and something wet moving over my hand. Holding completely still, I cautiously opened my eyes, and orange and black immediately filled my vision. The Growlithe luckily didn't notice that I was awake and continued to nose and paw at my bag. I slowly moved my hand to the pocket I had moved my pokeballs to, but the Growlithe saw it and snapped its attention to my face, growling menacingly.

I rolled away, disentangling from my bag as I went and was about to toss it away from me when I paused. The Growlithe's eyes were glued to the bag even as it growled, and it was sniffing the air. I wormed my hand into the bag to grab a few berries. Its eyes were trained intently on my hand as I waved the berries around and its fierce growl morphed into a piteous whine. I tossed one in the Growlithe's direction and it was snapped out of the air. When I threw the next one past it, the pokemon raced over to it and I slipped a pokeball out of my pocket while it was distracted. Priming the pokeball behind my back, I threw the last berry in my hand past it in the same manner as soon as it looked to be turning its attention to me once more. As soon as its focus was on the berry, I threw the pokeball. It just barely hit the Growlithe on one of its legs, and immediately started rocking furiously. I took my last empty ball as a precaution. It turned out to be a good thing that I did, because the Growlithe burst out of the ball, snarling. I primed the last ball and tossed it in quick succession, which sucked the puppy pokemon in again. As it rocked back and forth, I readied my weapon. Luckily, this time the pokeball worked, and it stopped rocking with a light 'ding.'

I slumped down against a tree with tears in my eyes and pressed the palm of my shaking hand against my forehead in self-recrimination. I had forgotten to spray repel last night in my exhausted state, and the smell of the berries in my bag must have attracted the Growlithe. There were so many instances in the past couple of days that I had survived purely due to luck. By all rights, I should have been dead several times over, and it was all I could do not to break down and cry. I hadn't survived this far only to drop my guard in the middle of this deadly forest after victory was already in my grasp, though. I stood up with a loud sniffle, and gathered my belongings. I needed to get a move on. The sun was already halfway up the sky. I picked a few more berries from the orchard to refill my supply before heading out.

I made good time, walking at a brisk pace even though I was sore, and my bruises were almost black and were throbbing by this point. The small run-ins I had with the wild pokemon on my way seemed mild in comparison to what I had been through with the Riolu, and to a lesser extent, the Growlithe. Now that I had a little experience, they were fairly easy to fend off considering they were all low level. I stopped for the night about a half day's travel from Aspertia, by my estimation. I also very carefully sprayed the area with repel. It turned out that it may have been for the best that I forgot to spray repel last night, because the bottle sputtered out as I just as I finished covering the area. At least this way I was protected for my last night, and I got a second pokemon out of deal. I ate few berries and my last protein bar before curling up with my bag and closing my eyes.

When I reached the gates of Aspertia City in the early afternoon the next day, I was dirty, aching, and thirsty. I'd run out of water early in the morning, and I was starting to sincerely reconsider whether I'd cracked a rib or not. As soon as I broke from the tree line, I heard calls to open the gain coming from the trainers on guard duty. I was ushered into the Pokemon Center, then through a set of doors I hadn't noticed before that were just past the lounge area. The sign above the doors read 'Infirmary.' A nurse came in and checked my bruises and all the cuts and scrapes I'd acquired over the course of my Trial. It stung when she disinfected the cuts, but the good news was that none of my ribs were cracked after all. Clyde caught me by surprise when he burst through the doors.

He didn't speak until a moment later, after taking in my state of dishevelment. "We thought for sure we wouldn't be seeing you again. You caught us all by surprise." He handed me a compact, rectangular device. Like my Xtrantranceiver, it was pale purple. "That's a pokedex. It's able to identify any pokemon you scan with it. If you scan a pokeball with a pokemon in it, it will tell you all of its information. It also has Net capabilities within the city. Now," he clapped his hands. "Let's register this pokemon to you." I handed him Riolu's pokeball. He took it and placed it in a semicircle shaped dip on the lower half of the device, where it fit perfectly. A laser shot up and scanned the pokeball.

"Registering pokeball to Dahlia Moore, E class trainer. Processing... Riolu - the emination pokemon. It has the peculiar power of being able to see emotions such as joy and rage in the form of waves, and uses the shapes of auras, which change according to emotion, to communicate with others. This Riolu is male and has the ability 'inner focus.' Riolu knows the moves: Quick Attack, Endure, Foresight, Counter, and Feint."

Clyde's eyebrows raise in surprise. "A Riolu. Never seen one of those for a starter before. No wonder you took your time getting back here. The pokedex is also able to rejuvenate a pokemon if you put a pokeball like I just showed you and select the function. You should always go to Nurse Joy for any serious injuries though, and take your pokemon to her regularly for checkups." He handed the pokedex to me. "Congratulations. You are officially an E class trainer. As an E class trainer, you are allowed one pokemon. Any other pokemon have to be put in stasis. We don't allow E class trainers to take jobs posted on the Aspertia trainer website or in the trainer lounge, but it's easy enough to pass the D rank test. Once you are able to take jobs, you can always take jobs that are your rank, and jobs one rank higher than you so long as you also have a trainer of appropriate rank with you. Any questions?"

I nod. "I caught another pokemon out on my Trial after Riolu. A Growlithe that surprised me. How do you put a pokemon in stasis?"

Clyde's brows rose again. "It's not exactly common for a trainer to catch two pokemon on their Trial, though it has happened before. What you need to do is register Growlithe's ball with your pokedex the same way I showed you with your Riolu. After it gives you Growlith's information, it'll automatically send it into a PC box until you're authorized to take it out." I nodded and did as he said.

"Growlithe – the puppy pokemon. It is very protective of its territory. It will bark and bite to repel intruders from its space. This Growlithe is male and has the ability 'intimidate.' Growlithe knows the moves: Roar, Ember, Leer, Odor Sleuth, and Helping Hand." The pokedex fell silent, and with that, Growlithe's pokeball disappered in a flash of light.

"It's best to feed and interact with all of your pokemon that aren't in stasis daily," Clyde informed me. "If you can't afford any food yet, you can always take your pokemon outside the gates to hunt. It would be best for you to take the D rank trainer test as soon as you're able to make your pokemon obedient to you, so you can get a handle on your Growlithe. But that can wait until another day. It's almost dark. You've been cleared to head on up to your room. You can keep the knife and that hunk of metal you picked out. It's not like anybody else has ever wanted to make use of it." He said offhandedly as exited the room.

I decided to do as Clyde suggested after he left the infirmary. I gathered up my bag and weapons and headed to my room. After a nice hot shower, with copious amounts of soap, and a change of clothes, I collapsed onto the soft bed and was out like a light.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next morning found me eating a small meal in the cafeteria. I was eating a bowl of cereal with a few pieces of preserved berries. I had also received a sandwich, but I was saving it for lunch. Despite the food in front of me, I was finding it difficult to eat. I was feeling extremely nervous about letting Riolu out of his ball; I also think my stomach my have shrunk a little due to the sparse provisions I had during my Trial.

"Dahlia!" I heard shouted right before a familiar gangly form crashed into me from behind, squeezing my middle. Pain flared, and I let out a pained hiss.

"Careful, Zach!" I warned. He immediately let go, apologizing profusely as he took a seat beside me.

"Sorry, sorry! Are you okay?" he exclaimed before continuing, his excitement getting the better of him. "But you're back! Everyone thought you were a goner cause you were gone for _four days_! What happened? What pokemon did you catch?" I laughed lightly, still a little breathless from the pain.

"I'm okay, just a little bruised. I was gone for so long because I decided to try to catch a pokemon that lives pretty far away. I caught a Riolu, but he beat me up a bit before I managed to catch him," I told him in order. His eyes widened.

"A Riolu!" he whispered in awe. "Can I see him?"I covered a smile. Even though he was only three years younger than me, his attitude and enthusiasm once he got over being shy made me feel like I was decades older than him.

"I need to train him a bit before you can see him, but after that you can. What pokemon did you catch?" He gave me a sheepish smile.

"I caught a Magikarp," he told me. "It's not very impressive, but he was easy to catch. I finished on the first day. I named him Tide. I've already gotten him to be obedient, so I'm going to take the D rank test soon to get a second pokemon. I like Tide, but he's not very useful in battle," he said looking down. I nodded sympathetically.

"It'll probably be pretty tough to train him because Magikarp aren't able to learn many moves, and their bodies are pretty weak physically. But if you work with him enough, he'll evolve into a Gyarados, which is a really strong pokemon," I tell him. He smiles at me.

"Do you really think I can do it?" he asks. I nod again.

"Just keep working with him and be patient. So who else has passed the Trials so far?" This caused his expression to fall.

"Um, Damon caught an Aron on the first day, and Linda caught an Audino on the third. They both passed the D rank test already. But. . ." he looked down at his hands, where he was wringing together on the table. "Sandra never came back after the second day, and that other guy, Joseph, never came back last night. Everyone says that they're probably dead and that it was a miracle that you made it back after being gone for so long without contact." I squeezed his shoulder. I'd never even spoken to Sandra before, but it still stung to hear. Even worse was the thought that the boy with confident smile who I'd parted ways with was unlikely to ever return.

"Hey," I say changing the subject, "since you've already been training Tide, do you think you could show me where the training fields are?" He immediately perked up, gloomy thoughts banished from his mind at the prospect of being helpful.

Thirty minutes later I was standing by myself in a training ground that was designed to look like a clearing in a forest. They had succeeded all too well. The only thing missing was the stream, I thought, as I examined Riolu's pokeball with no small amount of dread. However, I knew that Riolu was able to see my emotions, and I couldn't let him think I was afraid of him, or I'd never earn his respect.

I tightened my grip on my staff, took a few deep breaths and calmed myself down before pressing the button to release him. A beam of red light streamed out coalescing into the form of Riolu. The pokemon growled at me, its red eyes glinting angrily as they darted from the pokeball to me. I felt a slight pang of fear before I ruthlessly squashed it. Riolu's eyes widened and he tilted his head, making me wonder what he saw.

"Hello, Riolu," I started carefully, keeping perfectly still. The small pokemon tensed, but didn't move. "My name is Dahlia and I'm a pokemon trainer. I captured you a few days ago." Riolu narrowed his eyes and dashed toward me. I automatically blocked him with my staff, tightening my grip on his pokeball, but he stopped immediately after, inspecting me with keen eyes.

"Are you hungry?" I ask him. "I have some berries if you want any," I say, fishing around in my pocket for the berries I'd stashed for this occasion. Riolu's nose twitched, and he took a step forward at the sight of the berries before catching himself. "It's okay," I said. "Here," I placed a berry on the ground in front of him, keeping careful watch of his movements, before backing away slowly. He crept forward towards the berry, keeping a wary eye on me much the same as I had on him. Then he speedily snatched up the fruit and ate it in two greedy bites. I muffled a quiet giggle with my sleeve, but he seemed to hear me anyway, lifting his head up in shock. He stared at me with wide eyes, leaning forward and making a small chirruping noise. I wondered if he was looking at my aura.

"Are you willing to work with me?" I ask him now that he doesn't seem like he's going to attack me. "As a partner? You'll have to obey my commands, and when you fight it will be to protect humans or for practice against other trainers. I'll train with you, and try to help you grow strong enough that you'll evolve Lucario someday." Becoming stronger was always a good motivator for fighting types according to what I'd read. Riolu looked at me as if he was weighing my soul for what felt like eons, but in reality was probably only a few seconds. Then he made a noise of assent and nodded his head. I smiled and let out a sigh of happy relief.

"I have some more berries. Do you want any?" Riolu nodded, and I retrieved the rest of what I had stashed in my pockets. I sat down cross-legged and held one out for Riolu to grab, and repeated the process each time he finished a berry. By the time he was finally full, there were only a couple left.

"Do you want a name?" I decide to ask him. "Or do just want me to call you Riolu?" He cocks his head to the side, considering. Then he nodded his head decisively. "You do want a name?" I asked to confirm, and he nodded again. "Hm," I sounded out, thinking deeply. "What about Luca? It could be a shortened version of Lucario, which you will one day be, and it's a good name." Riolu appeared to be thinking it over, but soon decided that he liked it, giving a decisive nod. "Luca it is." I carefully reached over to scratch him lightly behind the ears. He automatically flinched away at first, but then he held completely still. Once he relaxed, he leaned into my hand and made a light rumbling sound in his chest that almost sounded like a purr.

"Are you ready to do a little training now?" Luca nodded and stepped away before taking up a fighting stance and throwing punches at the air. I let out a startled laugh. It was surprising how much I was growing to like and respect the little guy already.

"Let's get to it then," I said, pointing to a wooden post about fifteen feet away from where we stood. "You see that post? I want you to use quick attack on it." Luca nodded in affirmation and disappeared in a blur of speed, hitting it with a resounding 'thunk' before leaping away. I had him do it a few more times, then I nodded. "For now that's the only move you know that you can practice without another pokemon to train with. I'll try to start teaching you a new move tomorrow. For now, we're both going to run around the perimeter of the training field. I want you to try using quick attack to boost your speed as you go. Got it?" Luca nodded, and we both took of running.

When we reached the edge of the field, Luca began boosting his speed, quickly outpacing me. I continued to run at a pace just faster than a jog, trying to pace myself so that I wouldn't tire too quickly. Whenever I did tire, I slowed to a walk until I caught my breath enough to start running again. Luca was able to keep a running pace the whole time, only stopping his use of quick attack once for a few minutes before continuing. We had kept it up for two hours before I called us to a stop.

"Great job, Luca," I praise him as he bounces over to me. His eyes brightened and he perked his ears at me as he stood panting. I sat us down to eat, giving Luca the last few berries and a small portion of my sandwich.

"I'm going to return you to your pokeball for now," I tell him once we finish eating, lifting his pokeball, "but I'll let you out soon. I promised my friend Zachary that I'd introduce him to you." He looked a little uneasy, but gave me a nod nonetheless.

I quickly headed out to the training field I'd promised to meet Zach at, which was located about a half a mile away. All of the training grounds were around the same area of the Trainer District. At one of the fields that I passed on the way, I stopped to watch for a moment. I saw the figure of a trainer with a team of eight pokemon training around him. I could make out what I thought were a Serperior, a Scolipede. The others were too small for me to tell from a distance.

Zach's taining ground had a large, clear pond, obviously for training water pokemon. As I drew closer, I could make out Zach's curly brown hair as he crouched next to the pond with a hand in the water.

"Zach," I called, stopping a few feet away, and he spun around in surprise, losing his balance, and landing on his butt in the mud. He looked up at me with an embarrassed grin as he stood up, trying to wipe the mud off his pants, but only succeeding in smearing it.

"Dahlia!" he exclaimed in delight, his voice cracking a little as he raised his voice. "You made it!" A splashing sound came from the direction of the pond, demanding attention. "Oh! This is Tide," he introduced, giving his pants up for lost as he kneeled down in the mud, petting the scales of the Magikarp that was bobbing up and down in the water. "Tide, this is Dahlia." Tide splashed the water with his fins in response.

"Hello, Tide," I say with a small smile and a wave at the pokemon. "Is alright to touch him?" I ask Zach, crouching down beside him. When Zach nodded, I placed my hand opposite his on Tide's side and stroking the cool, somewhat slimy scales. The magikarp gurgled happily in response.

"So how did it go with your Riolu?" Zach asked casually, seemingly focused completely on Tide. The corner of my mouth twitched up in amusement without my permission.

"It went really well. I named him Luca. He's very smart." I backed up a few feet and pulled Luca's pokeball out. Zach appeared to be nearly vibrating in excitement. When I released Luca directly in front of me, he looked around for a second before walking over to me and setting a paw on my leg. He aimed a questioning look in Zach's direction, who was still kneeling in the mud. "This is Zach," I tell Luca. Zach shuffled over until he was right next to us. Luca gives him a short, soul-deep gaze before nodding a greeting. I was glad when he didn't try to pet Luca. The small Riolu seemed to be a fairly reserved pokemon, and I didn't want to push too much contact on him until we had more time for our bond and trust to grow.

"So," I say, briefly stroking Luca's head before sitting down on the grass. Luca took a seat next to me, and Zach settled himself more comfortably. "How has training with Tide been going for you?" Zach sighed in response to the question.

"Tide is great, but I don't really know how to train him yet," Zach admits, looking back at Tide, who was happily splashing around in the pond. "The only moves he knows are splash and tackle."

"Luca and I did a little training today after we got to know each other. I had him show me his quick attack a few times, and then I ran laps with him around the training ground. I had him use his quick attack constantly to boost his speed as we went." I told him, thinking hard. "I'm sure you could do something similar with Tide. You could have him practice using splash over and over again and tell him to try to jump higher and higher as he goes. You could also have him swim laps around the pond as fast as he can, and you can run around with him if you want to actively participate. I don't think attacks are the only things you have to work on when you're training a pokemon. When a human wants to get stronger, we exercise. It's probably the same for pokemon. Though if you want to see whether or not you can expand Tide's move pool, you can try looking it up on one of the databases in the library. They have lists of moves each pokemon can learn naturally or be taught with enough training." Zach nodded thoughtfully, looking intently at Tide.

We chatted for a little longer about pokemon and possible training tactics before heading back to the pokemon center. Zach went straight up to his room to go to bed, planning to get an early start on his training in the morning. I settled down on one of the loveseats in the lounge that was a good distance from all of the other trainers to read a useful book I'd borrowed from the library. It described how to teach pokemon moves that they don't learn naturally. I was naturally quite startled when the weight of a person plopped down on the couch beside me. It turned out to be James, the trainer that had showed me and Joseph to the gate.

"I heard you made it back alive, miracle girl," he said cheerily, reaching up to tug on a lock of my straight, shoulder-length black hair. "Stopping hearts and defying expectations all in one." I push his wrist away with a slight scowl.

"You heard right," I answer him grudgingly, annoyed by his antics. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. "Can I ask you a question?" He gave me a sunny smile.

"Ask away."

"Clyde told me that my second pokemon has to remain in stasis until I pass the D rank test. What can you tell me about it?" He looked at me consideringly.

"One day in as an official trainer and she's already got a second pokemon," he said, shaking his head. I pointedly raise an eyebrow. "Alright. Basically, you just have to schedule a meeting with the Gym Leader and show him that your starter will follow your commands. And in case you were wondering, to be eligible to take the C rank test, you have to have two trained pokemon. They both have to show that they are obedient to you, and they have to have each learned at least two new moves since you captured them. I won't tell you what the actual test is, but those are the qualifiers."

"Thank you," I tell him, looking him in the eye. For some strange reason that was unfathomable to me, this caused his grin to widen.

"You're smiling!" he points out, sounding quite satisfied. I wasn't sure if I had been smiling, but if I was, it was certainly gone now. I did feel like I was blushing now, though; luckily the color didn't show on my face very easily. To my great relief, before he had the chance to say anything else he was distracted by the approach of two familiar figures. Linda who appeared to be dragging a grudging Damon along behind her.

"Hi, Dahlia!" Linda chirped, pushing Damon down onto the couch adjacent the one James and I were seated on before sitting down nest to him. "I know we haven't really spoken much since. . . well, you know, but I figured we rookies should stick together. So, how have you been?" She smiles at me expectantly. I blink slowly.

"I've been well. How have you been?" I return politely.

"Oh, I've been fine. It's been. . . quite sad, with what happened with Joseph and Sandy, but there's really nothing to do but to accept it and move on with our lives," she looks down sadly before looking up with renewed cheer. "But anyway, on to happier topics. What pokemon where you able to catch on your Trial? I caught an Audino, and I named her Cindy. Her training has been going quite well I would say. Damon here," she nudged him playfully, and his scowl deepened in response, "caught a Larvitar. What did you name him again?"

"I didn't." Damon grunted, rolling his eyes. Linda gave a huff of exasperation before turning to me with expectant eyes. I took me several moments to realize that she was waiting for me to speak.

"I caught a Riolu. His name is Luca."

"Wow, I didn't know you caught a Riolu, Dahlia," James chimed in, leaning forward in interest. This drew Linda's attention to him.

"Oh, how rude of us. Who is this, Dahlia?" Linda asks.

"James Gracen, age sixteen and B class trainer, at your service," James supplied with a charming smile, and a pretty pink blush suffused Linda's cheeks. Somehow, it didn't clash with her vibrantly red hair. After a moment, Damon cleared his throat pointedly, snapping her out of her daze.

"Anyway," Linda said, looking a little flustered, "do you know where Zach is?" She turned her attention to me again.

"He went to bed already. He was planning on getting an early start on training tomorrow." Linda nodded thoughtfully.

"We'll just have to catch up with him sometime tomorrow." She turned an uncharacteristically shy glance to James. "As a B class trainer, you must have much more experience with pokemon than we do. What kinds of pokemon do you have?" Even Damon looked interested at this question.

"Well, at this point, I have six pokemon. With each rank that you gain after rank D, you're allowed to carry two more pokemon. At S class, you can carry ten pokemon with you. Additionally, at every rank you can have up to two pokemon in stasis, meaning the highest number of pokemon you can have during your career as a pokemon trainer is twelve, but that's only if you reach the S rank. Of course you can sometimes trade pokemon, and you can catch another pokemon to replace one that's died, but that's, well. . ." he looks vaguely uncomfortable. "Anyway, that's not what you asked me. It seems I've gotten off topic," he ruffles his hair sheepishly. "I have a Serperior, a Scolipede, a Mienshao, an Emolga, and I just caught a Spheal on a recent mission." From there, Linda proceeded to ask James several frivolous questions, ranging from whether he'd named his pokemon to which pokemon he thought were the cutest in the surrounding area. Damon appeared to zone out, and I slipped away unnoticed.

I walked over to the main desk to arrange a meeting with Clyde as soon as possible, since I thought Luca was ready to pass the D rank test, and I wanted to get my Growlithe out of stasis as soon as possible. Luckily, there was an opening for the next day. Apparently older trainers tended to keep the Gym Leaders time free for the rookies the first few weeks after the Conscription Day. I had just finished speaking with the receptionist when a pair of warm, calloused hands dropped on my shoulders, making me jump. I turn around and have to crane my neck up to look at James who I suddenly realize is much taller than me. His face is more serious than I've seen it since he dropped me and Joseph off at the North gate.

"I really am glad that you made it back," he tells me. I give him a hesitant nod, trying for a smile. From the way he chuckles I assume it turned out about as well as I thought – as in, not very. He squeezes my shoulder and backs away to give me room to pass by. I do so and head up to my room, trying not to dwell on how confusing he is. Upon entering my room, I release Luca, who stretches happily before looking to me for direction.

"This is my room," I explain to him. "This is where we'll be sleeping. I'll keep you out as much as you want while we're here, so long as you try not to break anything or make a mess." With that said, I move to change into my sleeping clothes. I was just about to put my sleep shirt on, when I was stopped by a light touch on my side. Luca was lightly touching one of his paws to one of the large, mottled bruises on my side, looking vaguely guilty. At this point, the bruises are almost black, with just a hint of yellowing at the edges. They'd caused me quite a bit of grief while I was running today.

"It's okay," I tell him. "They could have been healed by now, but since they're not life threatening, I left them to heal naturally." I remove his paw from my side and squeeze it lightly before continuing to dress. When I crawl into the bed, Luca hesitantly curls up on the pillow beside my head. I was surprisingly easy to drift to sleep after that, and before I even knew it, I was out like a light.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I met with Clyde at nine o'clock the next morning in the Gym stadium, having already explained to Luca what was going to take place. The Gym Leader was already waiting when I arrived, his gray and white hair as wild as ever, and his large stature commanding attention. There were several training dummies set up nearby.

"Alright, let's get this started," he rumbled as I drew closer to him. "Go ahead and release your Riolu, Missy." I did as he said, and Luca soon stood stiffly by my side, waiting for instructions. "Good, good," Clyde said. He crouched down and abruptly shoved his face up close to Luca's, causing the small pokemon to flinch back, though he didn't otherwise react to the invasion of his personal space. I had to quickly tamp down on the ire that developed in the face of Luca's discomfort, and the small pokemon's eyes flicked towards me briefly.

"Okay," Clyde finally says, standing. "Go ahead and have him use quick attack on one of those dummies." Luca looked at me, and I nodded, pointing at one of the dummies in the middle. Luca immediately went at it with his quick attack, which was noticeably quicker and harder hitting than it had been than the day before, causing the dummy to splinter. I couldn't help but be impressed by how quickly pokemon were able to grow stronger.

"Okay, now pick him up," Clyde said after Luca ran back over to us. I had to once again stifle my irritation at him for making Luca uncomfortable. The small pokemon seemed quite reserved, and I didn't like the way Clyde was forcing our interaction, no matter how necessary it was. Nonetheless, Luca complied easily when I lifted him up and hugged him to his chest like a I would a child. He was heavier than I would have thought. "One of the signs of an untrained pokemon is that they lash out at being touched by humans," Clyde explained. "Looks like you're good to go," he continued, taking a card and a device that looked similar to a pokedex out of his large pockets and swiping the card through a slot in the device after pressing a few buttons. He then handed the card to me.

"This is your official trainer's license. Swipe it on the PC at the Center and you can get your Growlithe out of stasis. Now get going, I've got another appointment in ten minutes," he said, waving his hand at us in a shooing motion. I was surprised that the test was so short and simple, but I took the hint and left to head back to the Pokemon Center.

It wasn't until we were about halfway there that I realized that Luca was still in my arms with his arms wrapped around my neck and his chin resting on my shoulder. He seemed very comfortable. I figured that it was okay that he was out so long as I remained in the trainer district, so I let him remain in my arms until we got to the Center, where I returned him to his pokeball and proceeded to retrieve my Growlithe. From there I walked to the same training field we'd occupied the day before and released Luca again.

"I'm going to be letting our new teammate out in just a second," I tell him. "I'm going to have my staff," I stamped the aforementioned weapon on the ground, "but I would prefer it if you intercepted him before he gets to me if he decides to attack." Luca nods and moves closer to me as I take out Growlithe's pokeball.

Upon being released, the Growlithe released a vicious snarl as his eyes darted around to take in his new surroundings. Immediately identifying Luca and I as threats, he crouched defensively with his hackles up and his ears flat against his head. After a moment of thought, I decided to take a risk, and slowly placed my staff on the ground. This earned me a sharp glance from Luca and the instant attention of Growlithe. He growled again, muscles tensing, but I just slowly lifted my empty hands into the air, trying to show that I meant no harm.

"Hey, Growlithe," I spoke as calmly as I could manage, considering the situation. "Do you remember me? I'm the trainer that caught you. My name is Dahlia." Growlithe's ears rose a little, twisting toward me, but didn't lose his defensive stance. "We're not going to attack you unless you attack us first," I assured, before gesturing toward Luca. "This is Luca, my first pokemon. You're my second pokemon. I will make sure that you are cared for and do my best to help you grow stronger, but only if you are willing to train with me, Luca, and the pokemon I catch in the future. What do you say?"

Growlithe tilted his head and slowly eased back into a sitting position. He then sent a quiet bark in Luca's direction, which Luca replied to with a few yips. He cocked his head in the other direction, and, after observing both of us for a few moments. All of a sudden, Growlithe opened his mouth, and it was glowing with orange fire. I wasn't prepared for the attack, but in a movement so fast I could barely track it, Luca hit him with a Quick Attack. He was thrown back several feet, but the Ember he had let loose seconds before the Riolu had intercepted him still headed in my direction. I threw myself to the right, landing gracelessly on the hard ground. The ground where the fire based attack had landed was charred black and smoldering.

Luca kept a wary eye on the Growlithe as I climbed back to my feet, but he made no further movement as I dusted myself off. He whined a little and wagged his fluffy stub of a tail, before dropping to the ground and showing his belly. I moved toward him after a moment of deliberation, though not before grabbing my staff. Luca attached himself to my side, startling me when he gave the Growlithe a short growl of warning as we approached. I crouched next to him and slowly placed my right had on his exposed stomach. He watched me with alert black eyes. Then he let out a piteous whine and writhed on his back in a ridiculous manner, drawing a startled laugh from my lips. When I started scratching his belly, his tongue lolled happily, and one of his hind legs twitched occasionally when I hit a good spot. It was a few minutes before I let up, and when I did, he scrambled up and nudged my hand with him cold, wet nose. I smiled happily as I pet his head, scratching behind his ears briefly. I motioned Luca over, who had been standing cautiously off to the side, and placed a hand gently against his back.

"Would you mind if I gave you a name?" I asked the striped pokemon, and he gave a bark and a wag of his tail in affirmation. I gave a thoughtful 'hmm.' "I can think of two that I think would fit you," I tell him, "Canaan, or Ari. Do you know which one you like better?" He barked again. "Do you like Canaan?" There was no reaction. "Ari?" I asked, and was met with a series of happy barks. I laughed. "Ari it is then." I stood up, patting the dirt and grass off of my pants. "Are you guys okay to train for a while?" When they responded positively, I set Ari to firing embers into the sky with instructions to make it as hot as possible and to hold it as long as he could. I then took Luca a few meters away to work on teaching him Force Palm next to one of the training posts.

"So from what I've read, for this attack you need to focus your fighting energy into your paw until it glows with the energy. From there it's just a matter of hitting your target. For now just try to find that energy. Once you do, try directing it to your paw. I'm going to train with Ari for now, but let me know when you manage it." Luca nodded and held his paw up in front of him, a look of concentration on his face. I stroke his head briefly, then leave him to it.

I walked over to Ari and called him training on ember to a stop, and he trotted over to me with his tongue hanging out the side his mouth. From there I worked with him on tracking, using odor sleuth. I had him close his eyes while I held up an object for him to scent, then hid it somewhere on the field before I allowed him to open his eyes and search for it by scent. After the first few times, I tried using tactics I'd read about to throw him subtly off the scent until he'd wised up to it. He did very well for a little over than two hours, when we were interrupted by Luca's success. His paw lit up so brightly that it wasn't necessary for him to tell me that he'd succeeded. I rushed over, Ari close on my heels as the light died down. I was so excited and proud of him that I immediately knelt down next to him and pulled him into a tight hug. When I pulled away he looked slightly embarrassed and shy at the attention.

"Great job, Luca," I told him with pride in my voice. "Go ahead and do it one more time, and this time hit the post with it." It took him a few seconds, but soon enough the light formed from his palm and he ran forward. When it hit the post, the force of the hit splintered it, though I noticed that a lot of the light from the attack streamed out to the sides. I asked him to try to focus the energy as much as possible in a forward direction, toward the target. It took him a few more tries, but when he finally succeeded, the training post was completely destroyed.

Not long after that, I decided that we do about another hour of training. I told Ari to use helping hand on Luca for as long and a often as possible, which caused him to glow slightly with the boost in power. Then I had Luca use counter while I attacked him with my staff. He would catch my blows with his arms, and his use of counter would cause my blows to ricochet off with more than twice the force. I fell down a lot in the beginning in my attempt to avoid being hit with my own staff, but soon got the hang of flowing with the backlash, spinning with the blows. This was an idea I had been playing with since I'd learned their move sets that would allow for the training of both pokemon simultaneously, while also training myself.

After I called a stop to training for the day, I decided to take Luca and Ari hunting outside the walls. I had some money saved up from helping my parents around the farm that I'd cashed and kept with me on the day I'd volunteered, but I didn't want to dip into it unless I absolutely had to. I was hoping to be able to survive on the money I earned on missions and save the rest. Hunting would keep my pokemon fed, help us all gain experience fighting other pokemon, and save money.

I exited the city through the East gate, despite the fact that it was the furthest away and I had to take the train to get there. When I was on the train, I had plenty of space even though it was crowded. The clothing I was wearing had the league emblem emblazoned on the shoulder because it was required for trainers to wear the league emblem for easy identification. That was what caused everyone to avoid me. Civilians were simultaneously respectful and fearful of trainers, and the combination of the two conflicting feeling meant most people didn't want to interact with trainers beyond what was absolutely needed.

Once I passed through the gate, I released Luca and Ari from their balls, and they went hunting. Ari used Odor Sleuth to track down a flock of Pidove. As could be expected, most of the Pidove flew away at the first sign of danger, but Luca and Ari only needed to isolate and take down two of the flock. I wanted to look away from the bloody scene as they fed, but forced myself to watch. I would need to get used to it sooner or later during my career as a trainer. I was proud of how well my two pokemon were working together.

After they had eaten their fill, we stayed out for awhile. I had Ari and Luca practice fighting against the wild pokemon in the area, until we ran into an extremely powerful Liepard that even Luca and Ari weren't able to fight off even together. Luca was able to do some damage with his Force Palm due to the type advantage fighting types had against dark types, but the Liepard was strong enough that the damage wasn't enough. In the end, I had to tell Ari to use Roar to drive the Liepard away. Roar was a sound based move that projected a loud, fearsome roar at the opposing pokemon, be they alone or in a group. It worked by instilling an instinctual, mind-numbing terror that caused them to flee in fear for their lives. Because the fear the move instilled was completely irrational, it didn't matter if the enemy pokemon knew, logically, that the pokemon using Roar was weaker than them. I thought the move would prove to be extremely useful for getting out of tight situations with stronger wild pokemon, especially because it could effect multiple opponents, but wouldn't effect anyone that Ari didn't specifically direct it towards. After the encounter with the Liepard, I felt it was time to head back to the Pokemon Center.

"Hello! What can I do for you?" Nurse Joy chirped as I approached the desk. I set my two pokeballs down on the counter.

"I just wanted to get my pokemon healed?" I queried, a little unsure of the process. Nurse Joy lit up and grabbed the pokeballs.

"Absolutely. It will take just about three minutes at most," she said as she slotted them into a tray that slid into machine behind the counter. It looked like it could hold up to ten pokeballs at a time. "You're one of the new trainers, correct? Do you want to schedule their first checkup?"

"I would, thank you. What times are available for an appointment?" I asked. I was glad she had reminded me. Clyde had mentioned checkups for pokemon, now that I thought of it, but I had completely forgotten until she asked.

"We can actually take them right now if you want. Most of the appointment slots are left open for new trainers for the month after Conscription Day." She smiled kindly.

"I would appreciate that, actually. Is there anything I need to do?" Nurse Joy shook her head.

"Next time you'll have to schedule an appointment beforehand, but this time, since we already have their pokeballs, we'll just take them back to an exam room. It will take around ten to fifteen minutes since you only have two pokemon." I hesitated, and my inner conflict must have shown on my face because Nurse Joy seemed to have noticed. "Is something wrong?"

"Would it be alright for me to talk to them before their checkup?" I asked. "They won't know what's going on, and I don't want them to get scared." I felt like it might be a bad idea for them to be released from their pokeballs by strangers without warning when they still weren't used to being around humans. Nurse Joy's blue eyes softened in understanding.

"Of c-" she started, only to be interrupted by a 'ding' from the machine my pokeballs where in. She laughed. "Right on time!" she exclaimed. "Of course you can." She handed my pokeballs over. I grabbed them, but hesitated to release them.

"Are there rules about releasing pokemon outside of the training grounds?" I ask, wishing I'd thought to read ahead about life with pokemon rather than just how to survive the Trials.

"The only real rule is not to release large pokemon or pokemon that aren't fully trained outside of the training grounds." A woman with short, dark purple hair chimed in. She leaned against the counter. "It is considered rude to have more than one or two pokemon out in public, though. It tends to make even trainers nervous to be surrounded by pokemon they haven't personally trained with." She turned her attention to Nurse Joy and unclipped a belt with a long row of pokeballs. "Eight for healing please." Nurse Joy acquiesced with a smile and a nod. "And of course you don't want to release any pokemon in a civilian district unless your battling a wild pokemon that snuck inside the city. The names Amora Ruthven, by the way." Her voice was low and a little gravelly.

"I'm Dahlia Moore," I told her in reply.

"You're one of the newbies, huh? And you already have two pokemon? Looks like we've gotten some actual talent this year. I heard that last kid came stumbling out of the mountains at the west gate a few hours ago, so five out of six passed their Trials this year, and all in the first week too." My head jerked, and I opened my mouth to question her, but I didn't get the chance. "Not bad," she continued, seeming oblivious to my shock. "I guess I'll be seeing you around." As if summoned, another 'ding' rang out from the machine, signifying that her pokemon were finished healing. In a matter of moments, her pokeballs were tucked back in the belt around her waist and she was on her way. I turned instead to Nurse Joy.

"Is that true? That someone else made it back?" The nurse nodded in reply.

"About two hours ago. I didn't realize you hadn't heard yet, or I would have told you. If you want to find out more, you should probably go to the infirmary." I dipped my head in thanks before turning away to release my pokemon, who appeared in beams of red light. Not wasting any time, I crouched in front of them.

"Hey, guys," I greeted them. Luca placed a paw on my knee while Ari nudged my hand with his wet nose, looking to be petted. I complied for a moment, even as I continued to speak. "This is the Pokemon Center, down the stairs from where our room is," I start, mostly for Luca's benefit seeing as he was the only one who had actually seen the room. "Nurse Joy here," I tilted my head towards where she was leaning over the counter to see them, "is going to take you back for a checkup, just to make sure you're completely healthy. I won't be with you, but you'll be perfectly safe. I want you to be on your best behavior." Luca's red eyes gazed solemnly into mine, and he gave a nod of agreement. I felt a surprising amount of tenderness at the brief interaction. However, the mood was quickly broken when I was almost sent sprawling from my crouch by Ari, who had jumped up on my legs to give my cheek a lick. I felt an embarrassing giggle escape my mouth, and pushed his face away from mine, standing up. "I'll see you guys in a little bit." I returned them to their pokeballs after giving them both a scratch behind the ears, and turned them over the Nurse Joy.

"I promise to take good care of them," she promised with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes. Then she was taking my pokeballs through the double doors behind the counter.

I was tempted to head immediately to the infirmary to find out more about who had made it back from their Trial, but it would probably be a visit that would last longer than the time my pokemons' checkups would take. I didn't particularly feel comfortable leaving them with Nurse Joy for longer than necessary yet. In the end, I wandered over to the small Pokemart that the Gym Leader had pointed out on our first day at the Center. Clyde had spoken honestly when he'd told us that it only had basic supplies. I found pokeballs, repel, potions and antidotes, rope, and field provisions. All things that would help with survival on a mission out to the wilds, but not a lot of variety, and none of the more exclusive items that I knew existed: full heals, berries, grooming products, and stronger variants of the common potion to name a few. I still had all of the supplies given to me for my Trial, bar the pokeballs and a couple sips of potion, so there wasn't much to tempt. After a moment of thought, though, I decided to buy a couple of pokeballs, just to have them handy if I for some reason needed them. Once back at the front desk, I spent the remaining time before my pokemon were done looking up information on moves that Luca and Ari could learn.

. . . . . . .

"Dahlia!" Linda exclaimed as soon I stepped into the waiting room, halting in her circuit around the room. "We were wondering if you were _ever_ going to show up! Where were you?" It looked like all of the other surviving rookie trainers had beat me here. I was just glad that I hadn't shown up awkwardly late while everyone else was already in the recovery room.

"I took my pokemon outside the east gate. I didn't hear the news until after I got back," I explained. Apparently satisfied with the answer, Linda resumed pacing. There was only seat left on the single bench, in between Zach and Damon. I had an internal debate before taking it with a sigh. I'd been standing all day, after all. Zach scooted over a little to give me more room, smiling at me in relief. Damon merely rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"She's crazy; she's been doing this the entire time," Damon complained from where he was slumped against the wall. He didn't seem to mind my sitting next to him.

"I heard that!" Linda snapped at him as she passed by. He only rolled his eyes again, unfazed by her tone. I noticed that Zach was looking worried though, so I amicably bumped shoulders with him.

He smiled at me, whispering, "Clyde went in ten minutes ago. I think she's getting impatient," before looking self-consciously across the room at Linda, as if fearing that she could somehow hear him. To be fair, it wasn't outside the realm of possibilities. The room was a fairly small one. It was only seconds later that a doctor walked through the door to the recovery room, followed by Clyde. The Gym Leader stepped away from the door and motioned us toward it with a flourish.

"Have at it," he said. That was all the invitation Linda needed. With a squeal of excitement, she lunged across the room and grabbed both boys by the wrist, dragging them along with her. Damon complained the whole time, while Zach blushed and stammered. I followed at a more sedate pace, entering the room several seconds after the others. I recognized it as the same one I had been in when I'd returned from my Trial. I was glad I hadn't had to stay for more than an hour, otherwise I might have been welcomed back in a similar manner. Linda and the boys had come to a complete stop in front of the doorway. I had to edge out from behind them.

Joey was laying on the bed, propped up by pillows. His left arm and leg were both in cast, and he was covered in a multitude of scrapes and bruises. Still, he was smiling broadly at us. While the others stood as if frozen, I took the opportunity to steal the only chair to the right his bed side.

"Took you long enough," I teased. He laughed, and it seemed to break the ice. The others all streamed forward. Zach hovered uncertainly just behind my left shoulder, and Damon came up at bumped fists with Joey's good hand. Meanwhile, Linda alternately chattered at him and asked questions.

"What kind of pokemon did you get?" Zach finally burst out, asking the question we all wanted to know the answer to. Joey looked down at the pokeball he'd been fingering, before looking up with a fierce grin and a gleam in his dark blue eyes.

"I caught a Skarmory."

. . . . . . .

Later in the evening found me staring at my Xtranceiver, which I'd caught my self doing fairly often since I passed my Trial. Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and entered the number, knowing that they would all be home at this time. It rang only twice before my mother's face appeared. When she saw me, she covered her mouth with hands, tears covering her eyes in a shiny film.

"Dahlia," she said in a choked gasp. "Why didn't you call sooner? We worried you were dead." I instantly felt guilty, having forgotten that they would have no way of knowing that I was alive unless I told them. Trainers generally didn't have contact with people outside of other trainers after their names are called. The families are often intimidated by their child/sibling's new status and it is left to the trainer in question to choose whether or not to contact the family. The Gym informed the families of a death after a month had passed without contact from the trainer. My attention was brought back to the call when I heard my mom call for my dad and Beck. Their faces soon appeared beside my mom's.

"Dahlia!" Beck exclaimed, leaning forward in his wheelchair. "You're okay! How long did your Trial take? What pokemon did you catch?"

When Beck had been three years old, he'd been in the small daycare next to the field my parents had been working at the time. In a nearby field was a small Tepig herd, being raised for meat. That day, an oddly colored Tepig evolved into a Pignite and gone on a rampage, right into the field were my family was. Three year old Beck had received an inoperable spinal injury, paralyzing him from the waist down. Thea, my older sister, had just arrived to bring our parents their lunch that day. She'd escaped with minimal injuries, but was left a crippling fear of all pokemon, even more so than everyone else post-Cataclysm. It was likely that she would never speak to me again, even if she hadn't already grown distant from the rest of the family since her marriage.

Beck didn't remember the incident at all, and he'd grown up with a completely different reaction than Thea. He was an incredibly intelligent kid; he had a full scholarship to best school in the city. He was a wiz with technology, and in his spare time, he liked to research pokemon. I'd been at a play date at a friend's house, and therefore been spared the trauma, but growing up with my baby brother in a wheelchair had made me want to be strong enough to protect him and everyone else I cared about. That was my reason for volunteering, though I'd never tell anyone that.

"My trial took about four days. I've caught a Riolu and a Growlithe so far." Beck was extremely excited hear that. I chatted back and forth with my family for a while. Beck asked a multitude of questions, with my parents, mostly my mom, chiming in occasionally. My dad didn't say much, but if he'd had a problem, he would have said so. Quiet was just his way. Mom always said I'd inherited it from him. Our conversation only ended once my mom and Beck extracted a promise from me that I would visit tomorrow.

I was lucky to have such an understanding family. I'd learned today that Linda's family, while they hadn't outright said it, where treating her with considerably less warmth than they used to; even the little brother she'd volunteered to protect. Zach had confided that he was an only child with parents that had always been more concerned with their work than him. He had tried to call them once since his Trial, and they hadn't answered. Damon's mother had died when he was young, and he'd casually mentioned that he and his 'old man' didn't get along, as if it didn't bother him. Joey was an orphan. He had a little sister, Serena, that was still back at the orphanage. He'd stated his intention to send her money once he was able to take missions.

Linda seemed intent on molding us into her new family. I was inclined to let her, and it looked like the others were, too. No matter how begrudging Damon acted about it. We had all gotten along very well earlier, keeping a good conversation flowing for hours after Joey's revelation. I had always been a bit of a loner, and for the first time in my life, I found myself looking forward to spending more time with people outside of my family. I had found some friends were I least expected, when I had never really had any before.

That night, after I let my pokemon out and got us all ready for bed, I ended up with Luca hugged comfortably to my chest and Ari warming my feet. I was filled with a warm flush of pleasure. I was already growing to love my pokemon, and I hoped that they were feeling the same way. I slowly drifted into a sleep that was filled with good dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The next day, before I left to visit my family, I decided that it was time for to take a look at what kind of missions were available for me to take. In order to do so, I could either look at the mission flyers posted on the board, which mostly consisted of jobs that needed to be taken urgently due to a deadline, or on the mission database, which was accessible by any computer in the Center. I chose to browse the database using one of the computers in the computer room, which allowed to narrow down the options by selecting for it to show me only D rank missions that I could actually take. There were a lot more trainers hanging around every area of the Center than there had been up to that point. My guess was that they were no longer avoiding the Center in order to leave the resources open for myself and the other new trainers now that our Trials were over.

A large majority of the jobs available involved patrolling or guard duty for the wall and gates, as well as a large variety of areas within the city that tended to attract wild pokemon. The only other D rank jobs were requests for a pokemon with a specific move to help with a task; for example, there was one request for pokemon that knew the grass moves Stun Spore and Sleep Powder to help replenish the store of the spores they used to make tranquilizers. For myself, I decided to take a turn on guard duty at the south gate that evening. With that done, it was time to head out to visit my family.

I took the inter-district train to my family home. I was given a wide berth on the train, likely due to the image of a pokeball emblazoned on the front of my shirt. All trainers were required to wear an easily identified pokeball emblem to be recognized by civilians, and all of the clothes I had been provided with had them. Trainers were respected and feared in equal measure due to the protection we provide and the pokemon we tame, and because of this were often avoided by the rest of the populace. I did my best not to let it get to me, but the rest of the trip felt like it lasted forever.

My mother and father both worked on the farms of District 11, which was one of the largest districts, occupied completely by farmland. Not the highest paying jobs, but with both of them working, they were able to afford a comfortable house in District 8, a lower-middle class district. I arrived in the district at nine thirty in the morning, and the walk from the train station only took around five minutes, which felt like no time at all as I approached my childhood home. The white painted door flew open before I could even make it up the porch.

"Dahlia!" my mom shouted, throwing her arms around me. I stumbled under the unexpected weight, but quickly adjusted. My arms automatically wrapped around her in return. The scent of her soft, floral perfume filled my nose, and her curly brown hair tickled my face as I relaxed completely into the hug.

"Aren't you going to let her in?" my father's rich, baritone voice queried. I looked up to find him leaning against the doorway with a smile playing on his lips. He was a tall man, enough that he had to slouch through doorways or risk beaming his head. I'd inherited my pin straight black hair from him, though his was peppered with gray, and where my skin was milky white, his was darkly tanned from years of working under the harsh sun. His slate gray eyes glowed with gentle humor. My mother loosened her hold in order to turn a playful scowl on him.

"Of course I was! Can't a mother greet her daughter in peace? Without all the critics chiming in?" she exclaimed, even as she guided me up the ramp with an arm around my waist.

"If she weren't also preventing a father from greeting his daughter," he replied, stealing a hug from me when she turned to close the door. She huffed in reluctant amusement.

"We'd best not keep her any longer, though. Beck is waiting in the living room," my mom informed me. Without further adieu, I was escorted to the room in question, where I was met with an excited welcome and a smile that lit up the entire room.

"Lia-Lee!" he shouted, a nickname born from a time when he couldn't pronounce my name properly. He opened his arms and leaned forward in his wheelchair to ask for a hug. I happily obliged. "I missed you," he confided quietly in my ear. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my mother holding her chin and looking at us with suspiciously watery eyes, but then my dad pulled her away to give me and Beck some privacy.

"I missed you, too," I whispered back, smiling a little sadly. "How have things been?" I leaned back, and released me from the hug, though he kept a hold on one of my hands.

"Pretty good," he beamed. "Remember my project for the science fair? I won first place!" the hand not holding mine waved animatedly. The science fair had been an event that his school had decided to hold for the first time this year during the summer break.

"Wow," I said, honestly impressed. Beck went to Aspertia's most prestigious school on a full scholarship, so he had been competing with the smartest kids in the city, most of whom where older than him to the fact that he'd skipped a couple of grades. "Was there a prize?" He nodded enthusiastically.

"I won a really cool laptop computer, and a tour of the GenTech science labs," he said proudly. I squeezed his hand and reached up to ruffle his hair with my other hand. He pouted, swatting my hands away and patting his hair back into place, causing me to laugh.

"Good job. I'm proud of you," I told him once I caught my breath. He blushed and smiled in equal measure at the praise. He really deserved it though. His project had been to build his own pair of teleportation pads that could send inorganic materials back and forth between them. While not on the level of the teleportation pads that could transport human beings for short distances, it was beyond impressive for a twelve year old boy. After a few moments, his mood seemed to change and his expression became melancholy.

"Dahlia?" he questioned hesitantly. "Why did you volunteer?" I felt my body tense slightly at the new topic. I had known that he would probably ask, but knowing didn't prepare me for the actual question. It was made harder by the fact that this would have been his first Conscription Day if it hadn't been for the pokemon attack that had paralyzed him. The only good thing to come of it was that it made him exempt from the drawing. I set my free hand on the large wheel of his chair.

"Do you remember when this happened?" He nodded solemnly at my question. "I wasn't there that day, but I always wished that I could have somehow protected you. Even if I had been there, though, I wouldn't have been able to do anything. This is my way of making sure that if anything like that ever happens again, I'll be strong enough to protect you," I said, "and mom and dad, and Thea. Besides," I continued, "remember all of the research you've done on pokemon? All of the fun little facts you told me over the years made me think that it could actually be pretty fun, and it is." He tilted his head in surprise. "It's still very scary and dangerous sometimes, but I've had a lot of fun with the pokemon I've caught so far. I even made friends with other trainers." He looked conflicted for a few seconds, before conceding with sighing smile and a squeeze of my hand.

"All of this might be worth it for that alone," my mother teased as she entered the room with a tray of my favorite razz berry tarts. "We were starting to think you were never going to talk to anyone outside the family."

The next hour was spent munching on my mom's delicious tarts and catching up. Beck took the opportunity to quiz me on everything I'd done and seen in my short time as a pokemon trainer. After a while, though, my mom went into the kitchen to start on the dishes, and I followed to give her a hand. We quickly settled into the familiar rhythm of her washing while I dried and put the dishes away. Dad and Beck where watching TV. It was me who broke the silence after several minutes.

"Thea?" was all I said. She sighed.

"Your sister -" she started, but broke off and shook her head. I gave her a sad smile, but nodded my head in understanding. It was another few minutes before Mom spoke again, changing the topic.

"Beck's school is talking to us about bumping him up another grade," she told me. I paused and gave her my full attention. "He doesn't know, but you know he'd be all for it if he did." I nodded in agreement, resuming my task. "Your father and I aren't so sure about it though. He's already younger than all of his classmates, and we don't want him to have to grow up too fast. He's a twelve years old and already in tenth grade for goodness sake." She handed me the last plate and set about draining the sink. "Any thoughts?" I contemplated for a moment.

"I think you should keep him back. While he's definitely smart enough to go up another grade, he's still being challenged enough were he is right now. And you know as well as I do that as soon as he graduates high school, every college of technology in the region is going to want to get their hands on him. It won't hurt if he's a little older when that happens." I put the plate in the cupboard and close the door. "It isn't really up to me, though, and I think you should tell him about it before you do anything. Even if you decide not to go for it, he'll be angry that you didn't tell him if finds out."

I had to leave soon after that, wanting to spend some time training my pokemon before my first mission. We all ended up back in the living room to say our goodbyes. There was a round of hugs and loving well-wishes. Just as I was about to leave, my mom stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. My father retrieved something from the hallway, and presented it to me with a smile. It was a brown leather jacket with two buttoned breast pocket and two more at the shoulders. There was even an outline of a pokeball sewn onto the back to signify that I was a pokemon trainer.

"We wanted to get you something that would help you on your way to becoming a top pokemon trainer." My father wore a serious expression on his face as he spoke. "We all had a hand in picking it out. This jacket is the sturdiest we could find. It will hopefully provide some level of protection against physical harm, and we know that you get cold easily." I took the offered jacket and quickly shrugged it on. It was a perfect fit. After a moment of consideration, I stood on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around my dad's neck. I quick succession, I gave my mother and Beck another hug too.

"Thank you," I told them sincerely. "I love you guys," I made sure to say as I was leaving, then I headed back toward the train station. I looked bad one last time as I walked down the street, to see my parents standing on the porch. My father was standing behind my mom, holding her, and they both reached up to wave when they saw me looking. I waved back before continuing on my way.

As soon as I was back in the training district, I headed to what was quickly becoming my regular training ground and released my pokemon. Luca placed a hand on my leg in greeting, while Ari set about cavorting around in a humorous way, before coming up to beg for pets. I sat down on the grass for a while to spend some quality time with them. Luca climbed onto my lap shortly after I sat down, carefully adjusting his tail before leaning back against my chest, and I gently rubbed his belly, witch he seemed to enjoy. For Ari I grabbed a Frisbee from my bag that I'd retrieved from my room at home while I was visiting. He seemed to have a lot of fun chasing it. After the first few tosses, he challenged himself to snatch it out of the air before it landed, which was actually great for his speed and coordination. When he was tired with catching the Frisbee, he plopped down at my side panting, and I started to scratch his ears. After a further ten minutes of relaxation, I pulled out my pokedex, getting down to business.

Utilizing the pokedex's information on my pokemons' species, I went over all of the moves they were able to learn naturally, with the hereditary memory all pokemon possessed, and showed them pictures of them in use. Then I told them that I wanted to get started on learning Screech for Luca, and Bite for Ari, going over the videos of the moves in question again. I also explained what I knew of how the moves worked and what kind of energy they should feel for.

Despite never having used a dark type move before, Ari had Bite down within ten minutes, likely due to his species predilection for biting. He had fun splintering the wooden posts with the move. I moved him on to learning Flame Wheel shortly after to avoid the destruction of all the posts on the training field. He quickly got a good start on that as well, only having trouble with the larger volume of flames he was required to produce to make the Flame Wheel work. In the meantime, Luca made great progress in learning Screech. They had all of their new moves completely down by the time I concluded training for the day, and I had just enough time for a trip to the Center to refresh my pokemon before I had to head out for the job I'd signed up for.

I walked up to the guard post at the south gate with three minutes to spare, and was immediately greeted by a modest looking woman who appeared to be around ten years older than I was. She turned out to be a C class trainer who had signed up to supervise the south guard post for the day. The job was fairly simple. If we spotted any pokemon that made it over the walls – mainly bird pokemon flying over – we needed to report their type and general direction to the control desk over the radio, who would relay the message to any patrols in that area to be on the lookout. If we saw any pokemon in the area surrounding the gate, we could choose to go down and battle them, but it wasn't necessary for the job. I found myself bored for nearly the entire three hour shift. The only saving grace was that I could let my pokemon out to keep me company. Only one wild pokemon approached in that time, a Purrloin that Ari made quick work of with an Ember and a nearly perfect Flame Wheel. The experience did make me think however. While the Purrloin had been the only pokemon to approach on the ground, there had been several instances of bird type pokemon flying overhead that we'd had to report. I felt that some of them would have been close enough for my pokemon to take down if they'd had the right moves, I resolved to do some further thinking on the topic.

It was just after seven o'clock by the time I made it back to the Pokemon Center. I decided to pay a visit to Joey's room before visiting hours were over. Fortunately he was both awake and alone when I arrived, and he noticeably perked up at my entrance.

"Dahlia! Where have you been?" he exclaimed. "The others all came and left ages ago." I gave a wry smile as I took a seat next to his bed.

"I highly doubt it's been _that_ long," I replied as I looked him over. While he was still heavily bandaged, his casts had been removed, so he appeared to be well on his way to recovery. All thanks to modern day medicine, no doubt. "I was visiting my family this morning, training in the afternoon, and I just got back from my first job," I explained.

He nodded thoughtfully. "I guess that's an acceptable excuse," he said with a straight face, before breaking into a grin. I rolled my eyes, but smiled back nonetheless.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm great!" he said. "The doc says I'll be outta here by evening tomorrow." It looked like he was very nearly vibrating in place. "I can't wait to start training my Skarmory!"

"Speaking of your Skarmory," I start, undeniably curious, "how did you catch it?" Skarmory, like most single stage and evolved pokemon, where notoriously difficult to catch without severely weakening them first. Joey grew quiet at my question, and remained so for several moments. I was about to withdraw the question out of concern when he finally spoke.

"I didn't want to tell the others when they asked, but Zach and Linda told me about your Trial. You were out there for days, all by yourself, and you ended up with two pokemon. Everyone, me included, thought you were a goner when you didn't come back those first nights. You must have had a real tough time of it out there. " He looked at me in question, and I nodded, thinking back to all the times I could have died out there. "A couple hours after I decided to try my luck in the mountains, a Skarmory started following me. I only noticed it when it attacked me the first time. I was able to get away without any major injuries a few times, but it always found me again. Eventually, though, it pushed me over a cliff. That's how I broke my arm and leg. I sprayed repel every time she came back until I ran out, and after that I managed to throw a pokeball at her. I think that scared her a little because she stayed away for awhile after that. I don't know why, but she only watched me the next few times she came back, and the next time I threw a pokeball at her... she let me catch her. I still don't know why." He looked down at his scraped hands, then looked me in the eye. "I didn't want to tell the others because I didn't want them to be scared. They all were able to catch the first pokemon to catch their eye without a whole lot of trouble, so they don't get it yet." I nodded in understanding, and he smiled in relief.

"I didn't tell them the details of my Trial either. The pokemon I caught are a Riolu that I named Luca, and a Growlithe I named Ari. It was my plan all along to head to Floccesy Ranch and catch a Riolu. Their evolution line is strong, and they're supposed to be able to see emotions in people's auras. I hoped that would help me develop a strong bond with my first pokemon. If I could manage it," I explained. "I had a few close calls, but nothing too terrible. I didn't even see him before he attacked me. I got separated from my bag, and I had to fight him off for several minutes. It was pure luck that I fell next to my bag, and that the pokeball worked on the first try. I was so tired that I forgot to spray repel that night, and my Growlithe, Ari, was sniffing my bag for food. I had to use two pokeballs trying to catch him, and if my last pokeball didn't work, I have no doubt that he would have killed me. When I was trying to tame him, he tested our strength before he was willing to accept us, and nearly hurt me badly." I fingered the two pokeballs that rested in my holster belt contemplatively. "We're all friends now, though." I looked at Joey with a gentle smile. "Once you earn their respect and treat them well, we all get along fine. Maybe that's why Skarmory let you catch her. You survived multiple attacks and never gave up on surviving to the end. I know that took a great deal of strength. Maybe she respected that." Joey looked thoughtful as he digested what I had told him.

"Can I meet them?" he asked. "Since you've already tamed them." I looked him in surprise, turning the idea over in my head. I trusted my pokemon to be obedient, and who was I to deny an opportunity to get them used to being around other people. In two beams of light, my pokemon materialized in the room. Ari was on me in an instant, begging to be petted, while Luca patiently waited for a turn. As soon as he took in his new surroundings, though, Ari was cautiously eyeing the only other person in the room, Joey. Noticing that his hackles were beginning to rise, I quickly stepped in.

"Ari, Luca, this is Joey. He's a friend, and I want you to be nice," I told them, looking pointedly at Ari. He wagged his tail sheepishly, and curiously sniffed at Joey's offered hand, licking it in acceptance before butting it with his head, desiring to be pet and not caring who it came from. While Ari was otherwise occupied, Luca climbed sideways into my lap and contentedly rested the side of his head against my chest. He watched Joey and Ari's interaction with keen eyes, though they closed briefly when I started to scratch behind his ears. I wondered, not for the first time, if Luca was watching their aura.

After I returned to my room for the the night, did a little over an hour of studying on the moves my pokemon could learn. I even found videos of the moves I wanted them to start on next and showed them to Ari and Luca. Eventually, I did a little grooming for my pokemon and readied myself for bed. As we piled on my bed, I a comforting thought occurred to me in that halfway place between sleeping and waking. If Joey and his Skarmory got along half as well as he and Ari seemed to, they would be just fine.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

A week and several patrol missions later found me and the other five rookies ensconced at the training grounds that I had first met up with Zach at. We were there for, of all things, a picnic. Linda had started going on a lecture about how we all needed to do something together. Surprisingly enough, it had been Joey who suggested having a picnic together. It would be a good way for all of to hang out, and would allow us all to meet each others pokemon, which I admittedly was curious about. Zach's Magicarp, Tide was still the only other pokemon belonging to the group that I'd met so far.

All of us had taken at least two missions, so we could afford to pay for all of the ingredients for food. We had been granted access to the Center's kitchen in order to put it all together. Joey and Zach had stumbled their way through making all of the sandwiches, while Linda made some fairly simple chocolate chip cookies, and I put together a berry salad based off of one of my mother's recipes. Damon had gotten out of helping with the preparations by informing us that he would provide the pokemon food, mostly to pacify Linda. We settled our large picnic blanket as close to the pond as possible without getting it muddy out of consideration for Zach's lone water bound pokemon.

I was the first to release my pokemon, always eager to spend time with them. I had told them beforehand what was going on, so they knew that none of the new people they'd be meeting were threats. Zach scurried over to the pond to release Tide, while Linda released her Audino, who she had named Cindy. Damon gave his signature eye roll, but released Larvitar nonetheless. After taking a moment to review his surroundings, Luca sat down next to me, and I stroked his long ears in greeting. Ari was bounding around greeting everybody in an instant, though he paid Joey extra attention, remembering him from before. Linda's Audino also greeted everyone cheerfully, though in a much less energetic manner. Larvitar remained at his trainer's side, stoic. They seemed quite well suited to each other in my opinion. With the introductions out of the way, though, everyone turned to Joey.

"Aren't you going to let your Skarmory out, Joey?" Linda asked, cocking her head. It had taken several days of working with his pokemon before Joey had been comfortable taking the D rank test, but he'd finally taken it two days ago and passed. The only thing to be heard in the ensuing silence was Tide happily splashing about in the pond. After a moments pause, Joey gave a cocksure smile, though I noticed a wary glint in his eye.

"Sure I am, Lin," he answered, then scratched his head sheepishly. "Just keep in mind that she's pretty big, and she tends to be loud." With that grabbed the pokeball of his best and released his pokemon. As she coalesced in the beam of light, she spread her wings and let out a fearsome screech. He'd really been telling the truth when he warned us about the noise . . . and her size. She looked to stand around 6 feet tall. She was definitely bigger than anyone else in the clearing.

"Eveyone, I'd like you to meet Scarlet." At the sound of Joey's voice, the large bird stepped closer to him, her feathers clinking, and lowered her head. He reached up and pet her beak. "Scar, these are my friends. Linda, Dahlia, Zach, and Damon," he said soothingly, pointing at each of us in turn. "These other pokemon you see are theirs. I want you to play nice, understand?" Scarlet loosed a quieter, metallic noise and turned her black on yellow eyes at us. Everyone seemed be frozen in place, so I stood up slowly, lifting Luca into his favored position on my hip, and approached her.

"Hi, Scarlet. I'm Dahlia, and this is Luca," I said to her, lifting my hand up. "It's nice to meet you." The armored bird pokemon considered me for a moment. Luca was tense in my grasp, ready to move at a moment's notice. Then she let out a harsh sounding trill in greeting and nudged my hand gently with her beak. Joey smiled at me and patted his pokemon's side, careful to avoid her sharp feathers. The others all followed in suit, though only Zach was willing to brave touching her.

Soon enough we were all spread out on the blanket eating our lunches. The pokemon all seemed to like the nutrient rich pokemon food well enough. The sandwiches, though a little sloppy, tasted good, and my mother's berry salad seemed to be a hit with both the humans and the pokemon, who all received a few berries from the salad from their respective trainers. Linda's cookies, though basic, were quite good, and marked the first time any of us had had anything sugary since moving to the trainer district. The food at the Center tasted well enough, but all of it was geared more toward nutrition.

When we were all done eating, Joey and Zach teamed up to play keep away fetch with Ari. After they convinced Damon to join in, Linda sat next to me in a huff and joined me in feeding Tide tidbits of berries that he'd missed out on in the pond. Cindy, a pokemon whose personality was miraculously well matched to her trainer, spent some time trying to coax Luca out of his shell. He stubbornly remained clinging to me, though, so she eventually left to try her luck with Larvitar.

"I can't believe him!" Linda burst out after several minutes of quiet. "I spend all this time trying to be nice to him, and all he does is ignore me, but the instant Joey, or you, or Zach talk to him, he's suddenly fine with social interaction!" She threw her last piece of berry into the pond with a splash, and Tide happily dives down to retrieve it. I went over what I'd observed of their past interactions with each other in my head, but couldn't think what to say. She groans loudly. "Not you, too!"

"I don't think it's anything against you," I started hesitantly. "Maybe your personalities just clash a little." She seemed to be listening, so I continued with a little more confidence. "He seems like he's a bit of a loner, like me so he's not used being around someone so energetic. It also seems like he's got a lot of pride. When you try so hard to be nice and involve him all the time, he might see it as a bit condescending. Maybe if you keep that in mind and try not to focus so much on it, he'll come around," I finished awkwardly, wincing internally at how little sense I'd made. The silence stretched on as Linda appeared to be deep in thought. "Linda?" I really hoped I hadn't screwed up. Her head jerked up at her name, and she seemed to register that I was waiting for her to say something.

"You can call me Lin, like Joey did earlier. I've never had a nickname before, and I kind of like it. Linda is so old-fashioned." She smiled at me. "You actually give really good advice, Dahlia. Thanks." I let out a huff of air in relief.

"No need to sound so surprised," I griped in good humor, glad that my little speech didn't blow up in my face. I still had absolutely no idea what she'd taken from it. Ari chose that moment to come running over, nearly knocking me into the pond in his haste. He licked cheek gently in apology before flopping over onto his side, panting. I rubbed the saliva off my cheek in consternation, but gave his ears a scratch. The boys of the group, who'd been keeping him occupied until then, came over soon after.

"Zach mentioned that he's having a bit of trouble with missions with only Tide, so we all decided to go out and try to catch a second pokemon," Joey informed us, eyes bright with excitement, while the other boys returned their pokemon to their balls. He appeared to have already collected Scarlet. I nodded in acceptance, but Linda spoke up before they could take off.

"At least help clean up a little before you go," she commanded formidably, though I thought she slightly tense. There was a bit of complaining, largely from Damon, but in short order we had all of the trash gathered up and the blanket folded. The boys eagerly took their leave. That left Linda... Lin and I to take everything back to the Pokemon Center. I noticed that she was significantly less talkative than usual, and seemed down about something as we walked back. Thinking on it, I realized that she probably felt left out. I hadn't really thought much on it when the boys brought up their planned trip; it was a practical thing to do and I'd subconsciously written it off as a male bonding thing when neither Lin or I had been invited. Lin seemed a lot more sensitive than I was though, and she was a very social person. On top of that, much like the boys, she still only had one pokemon, and it was a lot safer to go outside the walls in a group until we were stronger trainers. With all of that in mind, the solution seemed obvious.

"Do you want to go out and look for another pokemon with me, Lin?" I asked. "Just us girls?" She had been deep in thought when I asked my question, and seemed startled for a second before she lit up and positively beamed at me.

"Yes, yes, yes!" she squealed, grabbing my hands and spinning us around in a circle. "Race you to the center!" she shouted, picking up the basket from where she'd dropped it and racing off. I huffed in amusement, and draped the picnic blanket over my shoulder before taking off after her. It was good exercise at least.

After leaving the picnic supplies at the Center and grabbing some pokeballs to use, we decided to leave from the east gate. It was Lin's first time using the train system since she'd become a trainer, and she seemed discomfited with the way the people on our train avoided us, but she seemed to decide not to let it get her down after the first few minutes. She kept up a steady stream of chatter about anything from what I thought the Center would serve dinner to what kinds of cute pokemon did I want to catch, the latter of which didn't really help the discomfort of the people around who overheard her, but if she didn't care, I wouldn't let it bother me either.

We let our pokemon out as soon as the gates closed behind us. Luca and Ari didn't need to hunt this time due to their recent meal at the picnic. All three pokemon kept faithfully by our sides, ready and willing to protect us from the wild pokemon around. We kept quiet for the most part, knowing that the sound of our voices would scare away any pokemon weak enough for us to capture easily and attract pokemon that were strong and willing enough to try to kill us for being human. A Sewaddle, older and stronger than then one I'd killed on my Trial dropped from a tree to attack us, but once both Lin and I had confirmed that we didn't want to catch it, Ari made quick work of driving it off. The process was repeated when we ran into various more common pokemon such as pidove and patrat, a creepy, wild eyed Pansage, and a strong Heracross that had taken all three of our pokemon battling it concert to defeat. The only pokemon Lin had seemed interested in was a Sunkern that even I had to agree was adorable, but it had fled and disappeared into the foliage before we could engage it in battle. Things continued it this manner until we came across pond. A few pokemon had been drinking from it, but they must have all been pretty weak, because they all scattered as soon as they saw us. The only ones left were the water pokemon I presumed lived underneath the surface of the water, where we couldn't see them, and one lone Ducklett that was frolicking in the shallows of the water and hadn't noticed us yet. Lin's eyes lit up, and she seemed to quiver in excitement.

"Cindy, use disarming voice!" Lin shouted drawing the Ducklett's attention. The small bird geared itself up to attack in response, but was hit with Cindy's attack before it could. It over backwards and looked dazed when it got back up, but ran forward to batter Cindy with white glowing wings nonetheless, causing the Audino to cry out in pain. "Double slap!" Lin cried out, and Cindy complied, sending the light weight duck flying several feet. "Now pound!" With the last attack, the duck pokemon collapsed, panting heavily and seeming unable to get up, and Lin took the opportunity to toss a pokeball. The Ducklett must not have had any fight left in it, because to pokeball barely shook at all before the usual 'ding' announced a successful capture. After a moment of complete stillness, Lin took one step forward, and then another, until she was near enough to grab the pokeball containing her new pokemon. She then turned around and gave me a smile that was almost manic with elation.

"Did you see that!? Cindy was so awesome! And Ducklett is sooo cute!" she cheered, carrying on for several minutes. When she didn't seem like she would stop any time soon, I began to lead us back the way we came. Lin continued her squeals of celebration and followed without paying much attention, and Cindy was beaming as well, nodding along with everything her trainer was saying. That left it to my pokemon and I to be on the lookout for danger. It took around ten minutes for Lin to finally settle down some, though she was still to distracted to help much with driving off the wild pokemon. In all honesty, I thought it was a very good thing that I'd come along with her, because she and Cindy were paying so little attention they could be taken out by a Dunsparce at this point.

I'd fended off a number of pokemon on the way back, and for every one of them that I battled, Lin had rattled off the various pros and cons of catching it. She seemed determined that I catch a pokemon as well now that she had hers. I didn't really plan on catching another pokemon at this point unless it was one of the pokemon that I'd noted in my studies for the Trial as being something I would want to catch. All of my pokemon slots as a pokemon trainer were already full, so if I caught another before I passed the C rank test, it would only be sent into stasis. So I really had no intention of catching another pokemon. That was, until, what happened next.

When we were a mere ten to fifteen minutes away from the gate, we were disturbed by the sounds of a vicious pokemon battle. Judging by the lack of human voices, I assumed that it was a fight between wild pokemon. Though it didn't really have any bearing on us, we were curious enough to seek it out. What we found was a natural course of events, but heartbreaking nonetheless. A large Venipede that appeared to be on the cusp of evolution was attacking two Cottonee. Normally grass pokemon aren't targeted as food by other pokemon, most of them not having much meat to them. The more aggressive breeds of bug pokemon, such as the Venipede line, were the exception. The larger Cottonee was fighting desperately against the predator, regardless of the futility, in order to protect the smaller one, which was drastically injured. They were most likely parent and child. With that in mind, I took action.

"Ari, use ember on the Venipede," I ordered grimly. He immediately obeyed, and the Venipede let out a grating screech of irritation as the fire attack impacted its side. It immediately turned its attention to us, letting loose a barrage of poison stings. Ari dodged them with ease, growling menacingly. The bug pokemon cringed briefly before shaking it off, but looked slightly more cautious than before. I realized that it must have been Ari's ability to intimidate kicking in. The Venidpede's next move was to use bug bite, darting in and getting the hit in before Ari could move. I realized that the Venipede really was very close to evolving if it knew that move. "Flame wheel, Ari."

If there was ever a time for the growlithe to get that move working it was now. Fire attacks were the only thing effective enough to give us a chance at beating a bug pokemon of this strength without resorting to roar. Fortunately, Ari came through, executing a perfect flame wheel and a solid hit against the wild pokemon. "Ember." The bright flames flew at the venipede, but a glowing blue barrier of energy stopped it in its tracks. Protect. "Again." The same thing happened. "One more time." The ember attack flew through the air once more. This time, though the Venipede clearly tried to use protect again, only a few thin wisps of energy appeared, and then vanished again as the ember approached the centipede pokemon. It wailed in pain. The pokemon then curled into a ball and took on a slightly brown tint, rolling forward at a rapid pace. Ari was able to dodge, but it just turned around and came right back around. "Keep using ember on it," I told Ari, but when he tried, the attack kept landing just behind it. "Aim for where its going to be instead of where it is now." With that piece of advise, the Growlithe had more luck, and managed to hit the bug several time. He was having a hard time of it though, having to worry about dodging all of the rollouts, which were steadily increasing in power, on top of trying to hit his constantly moving target.

"Ari, switch out with Luca!" I called to him after another pass. Luca nimbly jumped forward while Ari retreated back to my side, panting heavily, and glaring at the Venipede with hard eyes. I kept my focus on the battle. "The next time it comes around, I want you to stand your ground," I told Luca. "When it right in front of you, use the strongest force palm you can." Luca nodded sharply in affirmation, centering himself in a ready stance. It was my hope that using the powerful fighting type move on the Venipede while it was using a rock type move would give it a stronger affect than it usually would have on a bug pokemon. When the Venipede came at Luca, he brought forward his glowing blue paw and unleashed his energy. The resulting collision threw the Venipede out of its rollout and Luca back several feet, though he was standing again within seconds. The centipede pokemon writhed on the ground, crackling with sparks and wailing, but otherwise unable to move. Force palm's secondary affect had kicked in and paralyzed it. "Finish it off with another force palm." Luca complied almost before the words left my mouth, and the Venipede's weak movements finally stilled. I turned my attention to where Lin and Cindy where trying to help the Cottonees, and walked over. They were crouched over the grievously injured baby Cottonee, while its parent hovered warily to the side.

"Cindy was able to use refresh to cure the poison," Lin informed me, "but she doesn't know any other healing moves, and the potion I tried to use didn't do anything." She was choking back tears. The baby pokemon whimpered softly, and its parent crooned, trying to comfort it.

"I don't think regular potions are able heal such extensive damage," I told her. "I don't even know if one of the stronger potions would work in this case." I could only think of one solution that might save it. I took out a pokeball and turned to the parent Conttonee. "If I catch it, its will be held in stasis until I can get it to the Pokemon Center. They'll be able to heal it," I said seriously to the parent. I wasn't sure how much it could understand, but it was listening intently. "But if I do that, it won't be able to come back. It will have to stay with me. The other wild pokemon would be able to tell it had been captured by humans and kill it." It was true. Wild pokemon hated pokemon that had been captured by humans and were able to smell, mostly by sent, if another pokemon had spent extensive time among humans. The parent Cottonee's eyes fixed on the pokeball in my hand for several moment, then moved to the baby and back. When the baby whimpered again, the adult crooned and rubbed its face against its child's head. Then it looked at me and nodded. I slowly reached forward to tap the pokeball against the baby, and in a beam of red light, it was sucked in. The ball didn't even shake once before it dinged a successful capture. I then pulled out my pokedex and fit the pokeball into the proper indentation, and the laser shot out to scan it.

"Registering pokeball to Dahlia Moore, D class trainer. Cottonee – the cotton puff pokemon. They go wherever the wind takes them. On rainy days, their bodies are heavier, so they take shelter beneath big trees. Perhaps because they feel more at ease in a group, they stick to others they find. They end up looking like a cloud. When attacked, it escapes by shooting cotton from its body. The cotton serves as a decoy to distract the attacker. This Cottonee is male and has the ability 'infiltrator'. Cottonee knows the moves: absorb and growth." The flash of light came next and Cottonee was gone into stasis. While being in a pokeball did put the pokemon in a kind of stasis, it wouldn't completely prevent Cottonee's injuries from effecting it. Now that he was in complete stasis, he was safe from his injuries until I got him out. I used the pokedex to scan the parent next, wanting to know if it was the mother or father. "Cottonee – the cotton puff pokemon. This Cottonee is female." I exchanged a solemn look with my new Cottonee's mother.

"I promise to take care of him." I said as I stood up, and Lin and the pokemon lined up next to me. With a final nod of respect and farewell, we resumed our trek back to the gate, significantly more subdued than before.


End file.
